Lapacho (Tabebuia impetiginosa) - Portrait of a medicinal plant from the Southamerican rainforest

Author(s): Seitz, R.

Abstract: Lapacho(lpé roxo, Pau d'arco or taheebo), the bark of Tabebuia impetiginosa, is a widely used remedy in the folk medicine of South America against various diseases including infections and cancer. The great popularity of Lapacho tea in the USA and recently also in Europe is due to reports an the antineoplastic activity of extracts and some isolated naphthoquinones such as lopachol and lapachone in various models. Because of missing dose-effect correlation studies of the major constituents of the drug within safe toxicity limits and lack of significant advantages compared to established cytostatics, no systematic clinical trials have been performed. Recent immunological investigations have led to the surprising result that various naphthoquinones show significant immunostimulating activity in some in vitro and in vivo models. The dosages applied correlate very well with the amount of Tabebuia constituents present in the usual tea preparations of the Lapacho bark suggesting an immuno induced antitumoral and antiinfectious mechanism of action. Consequently Lapacho con be classified as a plant immunostimulant.The other therapeutic indications described for the Lapacho bark (rheumatism, inflammation, asthma) correlate partly with the results of those pharmacological investigations, but have not yet any clinical rationale.

Keyword(s): Tabebuia impetiginosa

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