Ibogaine in the treatment of substance dependence.
Current Drug Abuse Reviews March 1, 2013 DOI: 10.2174/15672050113109990001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ibogaine |
| Topics | Addiction Ibogaine |
| Keywords | Addiction treatment Substance dependence treatment Drug addiction therapy Anti-addictive treatment Addiction recovery Withdrawal management Cravings reduction Substance abuse treatment Recovery support Phytomedicine Plant-based medicine Herbal medicine Botanical compounds African plant extract Natural remedies Ethnopharmacology Drug discovery Preclinical research Therapeutic development Pharmaceutical research Medical research Experimental findings Drug development |
| Citations | 105 |
| Key findings | Preclinical research generally supports anecdotal claims that ibogaine attenuates withdrawal symptoms and reduces drug cravings, but safety concerns and a dearth of solid human data have hampered progress toward controlled clinical trials. |
Abstract
Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid derived from Tabernanthe iboga, a plant used in initiatory rituals in West Central Africa. Largely because of ibogaine's status as a Schedule I substance in the U.S., the development of ibogaine's use in the treatment of drug addiction took place outside conventional clinical and medical settings. This article reviews the history of ibogaine's use in the treatment of drug addiction, and discusses progress made towards, and obstacles blocking, the establishment of controlled clinical trials of ibogaine's efficacy. Preclinical research has generally supported anecdotal claims that ibogaine attenuates withdrawal symptoms and reduces drug cravings. Concerns about ibogaine's safety, as well as a dearth of solid data from human studies, have hampered progress in its development as an approved medication. This article outlines major findings from preclinical studies, discusses concerns about ibogaine's safety, and details previous and ongoing research on ibogaine's use as an anti-addictive treatment for humans.