Undoing Addiction In The Brain's Reward Sector

Summary

Ibogaine, an alkaloid from a West African shrub, has been shown to reduce cravings for alcohol and other drugs. Studies in rodents confirmed that ibogaine interacts with the brain's reward circuits and reduces ethanol consumption, as well as limits relapse effects after alcohol withdrawal. Despite its hallucinogenic and neurotoxic side effects, some clinicians use ibogaine outside the U.S. to help manage withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Study at a glance

Abstract

New treatments for addiction could result from studies of ibogaine, an alkaloid derived from a West African shrub. Animal tests and anecdotal evidence in humans have indicated that ibogaine reduces cravings for alcohol and other drugs of abuse. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have confirmed these findings in rodents and determined that ibogaine interacts with the brain's reward circuits. Ibogaine, which has hallucinogenic and neurotoxic side effects, has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration. But some clinicians outside the U.S. use ibogaine to limit patients' withdrawal symptoms and craving for alcohol and other drugs, UCSF reports. Neuroscientists Dorit Ron and Patricia H. Janak and colleagues now provide evidence that backs the clinicians' faith in the compound [ J. Neurosci., 25, 619 (2005)]. The researchers confirmed previous findings that ibogaine reduces ethanol consumption in rats. They also showed that ibogaine limits relapse effects after alcohol withdrawal in rats. The ...

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