Acute ibogaine injection induces expression of the immediate early genes, egr-1 and c-fos, in mouse brain.
Brain research. Molecular brain research – December 10, 1999
Source: PubMed
Summary
Ibogaine, a compound of growing interest, rapidly triggers specific brain responses. Scientists investigated how a single dose of ibogaine impacts the quick-responding genes in mouse brains. Adult mice received one injection. Within 30 minutes, a significant surge in egr-1 and c-fos gene activity was observed across crucial areas like the nucleus accumbens, frontal cortex, and hippocampus. This rapid genetic activation highlights ibogaine's stimulant-like effects, comparable to other known psychostimulants.
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to evaluate if an acute injection of ibogaine (IBO) induces immediate early gene expression in different regions of mouse brain. Adult male C57 mice received a single injection of IBO and were perfused transcardially with 1% paraformaldehyde 30 min after the drug administration. A single injection of IBO produced a significant increase of egr-1 messenger RNA induction in nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate-putamen (CPu), frontal cortex (FCx), septum, dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3 region of hippocampus, whereas c-fos gene was induced in CPu, FCx, DG, septum and CA1 region of hippocampus. This gene expression may be due, in part, to the stimulant properties of IBO, as we found with other psychostimulants.