Ibogaine and Noribogaine: Comparing Parent Compound to Metabolite
CNS Drug Reviews September 1, 2000 Carlos Zúbaran 15 citations
Ibogaine, a psychoactive alkaloid from the West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, has been claimed in US patents since the 1980s to treat drug addiction, with over 60 scientific publications on the topic. It has acute and prolonged effects on neurochemistry and behavior. Its metabolite, noribogaine, is produced soon after oral administration. Though chemically similar, ibogaine and noribogaine have different binding profiles. In rodents, both compounds decreased morphine and cocaine intake and modulated dopaminergic transmission. Rats trained to discriminate ibogaine from saline fully generalized to noribogaine, suggesting noribogaine primarily drives ibogaine's discriminative stimulus. Ibogaine-induced neurotoxicity occurs at doses much higher than proposed human doses, but caution is needed when extrapolating rodent data. Definitive clinical validation remains unavailable, but ibogaine has opened new perspectives for addiction pharmacotherapies.