Acute iboga alkaloid effects on extracellular serotonin (5-HT) levels in nucleus accumbens and striatum in rats.
Brain research August 3, 1998 D Wei, I M Maisonneuve, M E Kuehne et al. 48 citations
Ibogaine, its metabolite noribogaine, and the related compound 18-methoxycoronaridine (18-MC) have been claimed to reduce addiction in animal models, but their mechanisms are unclear. In awake female rats, ibogaine caused large increases in extracellular serotonin in the nucleus accumbens (up to 25-fold) and striatum (up to 10-fold), noribogaine produced moderate increases (up to 8-fold and 5-fold), and 18-MC had no effect. These results suggest that the serotonin system may not be essential for anti-addictive effects; ibogaine may both release and block reuptake of serotonin; its hallucinogenic effect may involve serotonin stimulation; and 18-MC likely lacks serotonin transporter affinity and is unlikely to be a hallucinogen.