Pain Relief: Unique Derivatives of Ibogaine Alleviate Both Acute and Chronic Pain Symptoms
Physiology May 1, 2024 Sanjit Dey, Tuhin Bhattacharya, Surajit Sinha 1 citation
Iboga derivatives, particularly iboga-alcohol, reduce pain and inflammation in rodent models of acute and chronic pain without causing psychedelic effects. In formalin-induced acute pain, the compounds decreased paw swelling, reversed reduced tail flick latency, and improved locomotor activity. They also reduced inflammatory markers such as Substance P, CGRP, COX-2, and p65 nuclear translocation, and lowered serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels. Iboga-alcohol inhibited mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia in chronic pain and restored impaired motor activity. The derivatives reversed BDNF depletion and modulated GDNF elevation. These findings suggest the compounds are promising candidates for non-psychedelic pain treatments.