Aveloz

Description

Aveloz is a succulent cactus-like plant growing to a height of about 10 m. Introduced from Africa as a garden plant, it is now naturalized in tropical areas and rainforests in the Amazon, Madagascar, and South Africa. In Africa, it is a common garden plant and its thick rapid growth promotes its use as a natural barrier fence. The main trunk and branches are woody and brown, but the younger branches are green and cylindrical, looking like many pencils and earning the plant its common name - pencil tree. Leaves are minute and are shed early, and the function of the leaves is taken over by the green branches. All parts of the plant ooze a caustic milky white sap when damaged, like many other Euphorbia species.

Aveloz is called "petroleum plant" because it produces a hydrocarbon substance very much like gasoline. This plant is being studied by Petrobas, the national petroleum company in Brazil. It is thought that the hydrocarbon produced by the plant could be used directly in existing gasoline refineries; estimates of 10 to 50 barrels of oil per acre of cultivated aveloz with cost estimates of $3-10 per barrel have been postulated.

Tribal and Herbal Medicine Uses

In Africa, aveloz is regarded as an insect repellant. The root is used for snakebite; the latex is used for skin tumors and syphilis ulcers; the seeds and latex are used for intestinal parasites; and decoctions of the wood are used for bacterial infections. In Malaysia, the stems are pounded and applied to swellings, and in the Dutch Indies, the pounded stems are used as a poultice to extract thorns. A root infusion is used for aching bones and a poultice of the root or leaves is used for nose ulcers and hemorrhoids. A wood decoction is used for leprosy and paralysis of the hands and feet after childbirth. In India, the latex is used for asthma, cough, earache, neuralgia, rheumatism, toothache, and warts. A decoction of the branches or root is used for colic and gastric problems. In Brazil, the latex is used externally to remove warts and tumors and to treat rheumatism. The latex is diluted in water and used internally for snakebite, as well as benign and cancerous tumors. In Peru, the plant is used much like in India, for abscesses, asthma, cancer, colic, cough, earache, neuralgia, rheumatism, stomachache, and toothache.

Plant Chemicals

The chemistry of the plant does not validate any of the herbal medicines uses. In fact, the plant contains many harmful chemicals that make it unsuitable for many of the traditional uses, especially those for cancer. The latex of aveloz is a rich source of terpenes, including phorbol esters and ingenol esters. These phorbol esters are highly irritating and have been clinically documented to actually promote tumors. One particular phorbol in aveloz, 4-deoxyphorbol ester, has been clinically documented to enhance Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, cause DNA damage to immune cells, and cause a suppression of the immune system in general. In addition to this one chemical, an extract of aveloz was also shown to reduce the ability of certain immune cells (T-cells) to kill EBV. EBV is a member of the herpes virus family. It is one of the most common human viruses - as many as 95% of adults in the United States have been infected at some point in their lives. After the initial infection, EBV establishes a lifelong dormant infection in the immune system (inside of B cells). EBV infection can lead to mononucleosis, and some EBV carriers will develop cancer, either Burkitt's lymphoma or nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Aveloz contains 4-deoxyphorbol ester, beta-sitosterol, caoutchouc, casuariin, corilagin, cycloeuphordenol, cyclotirucanenol, ellagic acids, euphorbins, euphol, euphorone, euphorcinol, gallic acids, glucosides, hentriacontane, hentriacontanol, ingenol, isoeuphoral, kamepferol, pedunculagin, phenols, phorbol esters, proteases, putranjivain A-B, sapogenin acetates, succinic-acid, taraxasterol, taraxerin, tirucallol, and tirucallin A-B.

Biological Activities and Clinical Research

The studies on aveloz, its chemicals, and EBV were conducted by several research groups who were trying to understand why EBV and Burkitt's lymphoma were endemic in areas where aveloz was widely used as a local remedy (usually for parasites) and/or as a natural living fence in Africa. Their research concluded that exposure to the latex of aveloz directly activates latent EBV infections, and exposure to this plant is now considered a causative factor in the development of Burkitt's lymphoma. Burkitt's lymphoma is a non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma associated with EBV, and in clinical research, treatment of a Burkitt's lymphoma cell line with the latex of aveloz found the latex to reactivate latent EBV and promote tumor growth in general.

Current Practical Uses

Since the 1970s aveloz has been promoted as a "cure" for cancer when the latex is taken internally or used externally. While the plant has a folk use for certain types of cancer, it has been more widely used for external tumors. The latex is caustic and irritating and has been traditionally used to "burn off" warts and possibly skin tumors. Taking the latex of aveloz internally (for any reason) has no clinical merit or benefit, especially for cancer.

Aveloz is confirmed to suppress the immune system. Suppression of the immune system makes the body less resistant to infections and some cancers, and it is therefore not recommended for cancer patients. Even more important, the latex has also been documented to promote tumor growth and/or to trigger certain cancers. Again, this certainly is not beneficial, indicated, or prudent for cancer patients. Unfortunately, aveloz sap still continues to be touted as a cancer cure in Brazil and now in the United States without any merit or scientific basis. As one group of researchers stated, " cancer management with Euphorbia tirucalli presents no scientific basis, at least up to the moment, since the phorbol esters have already presented tumor-promoting activity."

Aveloz is not recommended as a natural remedy for any reason due to its toxicity and its immune suppression and tumor-promoting properties. It is hoped that the time will come where aveloz will go into our cars as a natural gasoline, rather than into desperate cancer patients who will try anything in their search for a cure.

Traditional Preparation: None recommended.

Contraindications: The latex is considered a poison and has caused deaths in Africa. Contact of the latex with the eyes can cause blindness. The caustic latex can also cause skin burns, ulcerations, and dermatitis. Taking pure latex internally is known to induce hemorrhages and stomach ulcers. Used internally, even in small quantities and in diluted form, the latex can cause digestive disturbances such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. In addition, internal use of the latex may cause burning and ulceration of the mouth and throat.

Drug Interactions: None reported.

References/Footnotes

• Duke, J. Euphorbia tirucalli L. Handbook of Energy Crops. Unpublished. 1983. Available through Purdue University Center for New Crops & Plants Products.
• Cataluna, P., et al. "The traditional use of the latex from Euphorbia tirucalli Linnaeus (Euphorbiaceae) in the treatment of cancer in South Brazil." ISHS Acta Horticulture 501:II WOCMAP Congress Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Part 2: Pharmacognosy, Pharmacology, Phytomedicine, Toxicology.
• Khan, A. Q., et al. "Euphorcinol: a new pentacyclic triterpene from Euphorbia tirucalli." Planta Medica 1989; 55: 290-291.
• Kinghorn, A. D. "Characterization of an irritant 4-deoxy-phorbol diester from Euphorbia tirucalli. J. Nat. Prod. 1979; 42(1): 112-115.
• Furstenberger, G., et al. "On the active principles of the Euphorbiaceae XII. Highly unsaturated irritant diterpene esters form Euphorbia tirucalli originating from Madagascar. J. Nat. Prod. 1986; 49(3): 386-397.
• Imai, S., et al. "African Burkitt's lymphoma: a plant, Euphorbia tirucalli, reduces Epstein-Barr virus-specific cellular immunity." Anticancer Res. 1994; 14(3A): 933-6.
• Aya, T., et al. "Chromosome translocation and c-MYC activation by Epstein-Barr virus and Euphorbia tirucalli in B lymphocytes." Lancet 1991; 337(8751): 1190.
• Sugiura, M., et al. "Cryptic dysfunction of cellular immunity in asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) carriers and its actualization by an environmental immunosuppressive factor." In Vivo 1994; 8(6): 1019-22.
• Epstein-Barr Virus and Infectious Mononucleosis. National Center for Infectious Diseases. CDC. www.cdc.gov
• MacNeil, A., et al. "Activation of Epstein-Barr virus lytic cycle by the latex of the plant Euphorbia tirucalli." Br. J. Cancer. 2003; 88(10): 1566-9.
• van den Bosch, C., et al. "Are plant factors a missing link in the evolution of endemic Burkitt's lymphoma?" Br. J. Cancer 1993; 68(6): 1232-5.
• Mizuno, F., et al. "Epstein-Barr virus-enhancing plant promoters in east Africa." AIDS Res. 1986; 2 Suppl 1: S151-5.
• Prince, S., et al. "Latent membrane protein 1 inhibits Epstein-Barr virus lytic cycle induction and progress via different mechanisms. J. Virol. 2003; 77(8): 5000-7.