Distribution of ibogaine and noribogaine in a man following a poisoning involving root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga shrub.
Journal of analytical toxicology September 1, 2006 Violeta Kontrimaviciūte, Olivier Mathieu, Jean-Claude Mathieu-Daudé et al. 38 citations
In a 48-year-old Caucasian male with a history of drug abuse who died after ingesting root bark from the shrub Tabernanthe iboga, ibogaine and its main metabolite noribogaine were found in all examined tissues except cardiac tissue. The highest concentrations appeared in spleen, liver, brain, and lung. Tissue-to-blood concentration ratios for ibogaine averaged 1.78 in spleen, 3.75 in liver, 1.16 in brain, and 4.64 in lung; for noribogaine, the ratios were 0.83, 2.43, 0.90, and 2.69, respectively. Both substances crossed the blood-brain barrier and were secreted in bile. Very low concentrations occurred in prostatic tissue.