Heantos 4

Dr. Tran Van Sung

Dr. Tran Van Sung is a Vietnamese scientist and physician who played a central role in the research and development of the herbal formulation known as Heantos-4. As a lead investigator associated with Vietnam’s Institute of Chemistry under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Dr. Sung helped guide years of research aimed at refining and standardizing traditional herbal compounds for use in opioid detoxification support. His work contributed to the evolution of Heantos through multiple stages, ultimately leading to the formulation known today as Heantos-4. Beyond his scientific achievements, Dr. Sung was widely regarded by colleagues and collaborators as a kind, dedicated, and compassionate physician, deeply committed to helping individuals struggling with addiction.

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Clinical Use

Heantos 4 was widely used in clinical practice across Vietnam, particularly in detoxification programs for individuals withdrawing from opioids. These uses occurred in addiction treatment clinics and hospitals rather than as a single formal clinical trial at one institution. Reports about Heantos 4’s use in Vietnam come from public health records and Vietnamese medical practice documentation showing that it was used as part of inpatient and outpatient withdrawal care starting in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This clinical use was conducted in real-world treatment settings, incorporated into Ministry of Health guidelines for herbal support in withdrawal, and observed over thousands of patients. It wasn’t limited to a single research facility but implemented across multiple hospitals and treatment centers in Vietnam.

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Researchers associated with the University of British Columbia have also studied the biological effects of Heantos 4 and its components, particularly looking at how it might influence opioid withdrawal at a neurobiological level. One widely cited paper from this research shows that in preclinical models (animal studies), Heantos 4 helped alleviate signs of opioid withdrawal by affecting dopamine activity in the brain, a key neurotransmitter involved in withdrawal symptoms. This work suggested that Heantos 4 can increase dopamine release and reduce somatic (physical) withdrawal symptoms in rats made dependent on morphine. The motivation for this research stemmed from decades of clinical use in Vietnam, where many patients reported reduced withdrawal symptoms during detox. UBC researchers set out to better understand how the botanical formulation might work mechanistically and found evidence linking Heantos 4’s compounds (such as l-tetrahydropalmatine) with reversal of a low-dopamine state during withdrawal — a plausible mechanism for symptom relief.

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