Mapping the human genetic code may help identify genes involved in addictions. Microarray technologies have linked specific genes to diseases. Pharmacological treatments for addiction have been largely disappointing, prompting interest in the controversial natural alkaloid ibogaine. Research on gene expression and signaling molecules in rat brain models shows that psychostimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine alter long-term potentiation in the hippocampus, possibly creating a threshold beyond which excessive brain stimulation occludes LTP. Ibogaine broadly regulates these signal transduction pathways and influences immediate early genes, suggesting it may signal addiction-related gene products, though further evaluation is needed.
Ibogaine, a substance with potential antiaddiction effects against alcohol, psychostimulants, and opiates, was studied in mice and cell cultures to explore its mechanism. In mice, acute ibogaine doses reduced aversion to open arms in a plus-maze test, while subacute administration caused fluctuating aversive and antiaversive behavior over 14 days. Ibogaine reversed withdrawal aversions in mice abruptly withdrawn from cocaine. In PC 12 cells, cocaine disrupted signal transduction by altering protein kinase C isoform expression and activity and calcium levels. The findings suggest ibogaine's antiaddictive property may involve modifying central nervous system neurotransmission related to anxiety, but whether PKC signaling is important remains unknown.