Mechanisms of action of ibogaine and harmaline congeners based on radioligand binding studies.
Brain research February 7, 1992 D C Deecher, M Teitler, D M Soderlund et al. 143 citations
Ibogaine and related compounds bind to various opioid receptors, with ibogaine showing affinity for kappa-opiate receptors (Ki = 2.08 µM), while harmaline and harmine do not bind to opiate receptors. All tested drugs also affect sodium channels at micromolar concentrations, but neither ibogaine nor harmaline interacts with GABA receptors. The kappa-opioid activity may explain ibogaine's proposed anti-addictive effects, while sodium channel effects could account for the tremor-inducing properties of ibogaine and harmaline.