“Vietnam bestows honor on herbal medicine for prostate cancer”
A Vietnamese medical research organization received the country’s highest honor for producing an herbal drug treating prostate cancer.

The state-owned Research and Development Center also received the health ministry’s nod to use a catchy phrase on the drug bottles.

Crila, for which it received a gold medal Saturday, is the result of many years of research abroad by Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, head of the center. The drug is made from the leaves of a kind of trumpet Lily (Crinum latifolium).

The center has been allowed to print the legend “a quality product for community health” on Crila bottles.

Reported by Vo Khoi – Translated by Hoang Bao
Vietnam Latest News Thanh Hien Daily

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Research
Fitoterapia. 2002 Jun;73(3):183-208.
Crinum L. (Amaryllidaceae).
Thi Ngoc Tram N, Titorenkova TV, St Bankova V, Handjieva NV, Popov SS.
Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation, Laboratory for Chemistry and Technology of Natural Substances, Ho Chi Min City, Viet Nam.

“Alkaloids isolated from Crinum species have been reviewed for the period 1985-2000. Non-nitrogenous compounds have been surveyed for the first time. Botanical classification and biological activity are discussed. Spectral data literature sources are listed.”

Z Naturforsch [C]. 2002 Mar-Apr;57(3-4):239-42.
GC-MS of Crinum latifolium L. alkaloids.
Tram NT, Mitova M, Bankova V, Handjieva N, Popov SS.
Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation, Laboratory for Chemistry and Technology of Natural Substances, Ho Chi Min City.

Int Immunopharmacol. 2001 Nov;1(12):2143-50. Aqueous extracts of (L.) and Camellia sinensis show immunomodulatory properties in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Zvetkova E, Wirleitner B, Tram NT, Schennach H, Fuchs D. Institute of Experimental Morphology and Anthropology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia.

A South African study says: “Crinums are large, showy plants with umbels of lily-like flowers. They are found in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, where, for centuries, they have been used traditionally to cure ailments and diseases. Sometimes they are prescribed for the same medicinal purpose. This would suggest that they contain a common ingredient. Phytochemical analysis has recently yielded a vast array of compounds, including more than 150 different alkaloids. These are of the Amaryllidaceae type, whose most noted effects are: analgesic, anticholinergic, antitumour and antiviral. Even though much has been reported on the medicinal properties of Crinum, only an estimated 20% of the species worldwide are represented in these analyses…” (J Ethnopharmacol. 2001 Nov Crinum species in traditional and modern medicine. ) Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of Natal-Pietermaritzburg, Scottsville, South Africa.