Ibogaine and Noribogaine: Comparing Parent Compound to Metabolite
CNS Drug Reviews September 1, 2000 DOI: 10.1111/j.1527-3458.2000.tb00149.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Ibogaine Noribogaine |
| Topics | Ibogaine |
| Keywords | Metabolite Neuropharmacology Neurotoxicity Biochemistry |
| Citations | 15 |
| Key findings | Ibogaine and its metabolite noribogaine decrease morphine and cocaine intake and modulate dopaminergic transmission in rodents, with noribogaine primarily responsible for ibogaine's discriminative stimulus. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Ibogaine is one of the psychoactive alkaloids found in the West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga. Since the 1980s, a series of US patents have claimed efficacy for ibogaine in the treatment of drug addiction. Since then, more than 60 scientific publications on ibogaine and drug addiction have been published. Ibogaine has an acute and a prolonged effect on neurochemistry and behavior. Its metabolite, noribogaine (12‐hydroxyibogamine), is produced through metabolic demethylation soon after oral ibogaine administration. Although, they share similar chemical structures, ibogaine and noribogaine display different binding profiles. In rodents both, ibogaine and noribogaine, decreased morphine and cocaine intake and modulated dopaminergic transmission. In rats trained to discriminate ibogaine from saline, complete generalization to noribogaine was obtained. Attempts to correlate brain levels of both, the parent compound and the metabolite indicate that noribogaine is primarily responsible for ibogaine discriminative stimulus. Ibogaine‐induced neurotoxicity tends to occur at doses much higher than the proposed dose for humans, but caution is important when extrapolating data from ibogaine's effects observed in rodents. Although a definitive clinical validation of purported ibogaine effects is still unavailable, ibogaine has opened new perspectives in the investigation of pharmacotherapies for drug addiction.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on ibogaine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychedelics as medicines for substance abuse rehabilitation: evaluating treatments with LSD, Peyote, Ibogaine and Ayahuasca. | 2014 | Review | |
| The Anti-Addiction Drug Ibogaine and the Heart: A Delicate Relation Humans, animals | 2015 | Review | |
| Ibogaine in the treatment of substance dependence. | 2013 | Review | |
| Ibogaine, an anti-addictive drug: pharmacology and time to go further in development. A narrative review. | 2008 | Review | |
| Registered clinical studies investigating psychedelic drugs for psychiatric disorders. Registered clinical trials on clinicaltrials.gov evaluating psychedelics for... | 2021 | Review | n = 70 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Ibogaine in the treatment of substance dependence. Current Drug Abuse Reviews March 1, 2013
- Ibogaine, an anti-addictive drug: pharmacology and time to go further in development. A narrative review. Human & Experimental Toxicology March 1, 2008
- IUPHAR - invited review - Ibogaine - A legacy within the current renaissance of psychedelic therapy. Pharmacological Research April 1, 2023
- Ibogaine for treating drug dependence. What is a safe dose? Drug and Alcohol Dependence September 1, 2016
- Ibogaine related sudden death: a case report. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine October 1, 2013
and 2 more in the library
Cites 85
- Noncompetitive Functional Inhibition at Diverse, Human Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtypes by Bupropion, Phencyclidine, and Ibogaine Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 1999
- Degeneration of Purkinje cells in parasagittal zones of the cerebellar vermis after treatment with ibogaine or harmaline. Neuroscience July 1, 1993
- Effects and aftereffects of ibogaine on morphine self-administration in rats. European Journal of Pharmacology April 3, 1991
- Effects of iboga alkaloids on morphine and cocaine self-administration in rats: relationship to tremorigenic effects and to effects on dopamine release in nucleus accumbens and striatum. Brain Research September 19, 1994
- Inhibitory effects of ibogaine on cocaine self-administration in rats. European Journal of Pharmacology September 14, 1993
and 80 more in the library