A Single Administration of the Atypical Psychedelic Ibogaine or Its Metabolite Noribogaine Induces an Antidepressant-Like Effect in Rats.
ACS chemical neuroscience June 3, 2020 Paola Rodrı Guez, Jessika Urbanavicius, José Pedro Prieto et al. 44 citations
Ibogaine and its main metabolite noribogaine produce antidepressant-like effects in rats, as measured by the forced swim test. Both compounds induced a dose- and time-dependent reduction in immobility without altering locomotor activity. Noribogaine's effect was short-lived (30 minutes) and correlated with high brain concentrations (estimated >8 μM free drug), while ibogaine's effect was significant at 3 hours, when both ibogaine (~0.5 μM) and noribogaine (~2.5 μM) were present at concentrations that alone could not produce the same outcome. The findings suggest a polypharmacological mechanism underlies the antidepressant-like effects.