Effects of ibogaine on acute signs of morphine withdrawal in rats: independence from tremor.

Abstract

Because of the claim that ibogaine suppresses the symptoms of "narcotic withdrawal" in humans, the effect of ibogaine on naltrexone-precipitated withdrawal signs in morphine-dependent rats was assessed. Morphine was administered subcutaneously through implanted silicone reservoirs for 5 days. Ibogaine (20, 40 or 80 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline was administered 30 min prior to challenge with naltrexone (1 mg/kg, i.p.) and withdrawal signs were counted for the following 2 hr. Ibogaine (40 and 80 mg/kg) significantly reduced the occurrence of four signs (wet-dog shakes, grooming, teeth chattering and diarrhea) during naltrexone-precipitated withdrawal; three other signs (weight loss, burying and flinching) were unaffected. Ibogaine induces head and body tremors lasting for 2-3 hr and the tremors might have interfered with the expression of opioid withdrawal. To examine this issue, another experiment was conducted in which ibogaine (40 mg/kg) or saline was administered 4 hr prior to challenge with naltrexone. Although there was a complete absence of tremors, ibogaine still significantly reduced the occurrence of the same four signs of withdrawal.

In the evidence

This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.

• State of the evidence: Ibogaine for addiction ↑Supports

  Ibogaine at 40 and 80 mg/kg significantly reduced four signs of naltrexone-precipitated withdrawal in morphine-dependent rats, even when tremors were absent.

  Synthesized October 22, 2026

Comparable studies

Other preclinical and animal studies on ibogaine for addiction, most cited first.