Undoing Addiction In The Brain's Reward Sector

Ibogaine, an alkaloid from a West African shrub, reduces cravings for alcohol and other drugs in animal tests and anecdotal human reports. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, confirmed these findings in rodents and showed ibogaine interacts with the brain's reward circuits. The compound, which has hallucinogenic and neurotoxic side effects, is not FDA-approved but is used by some clinicians outside the U.S. to limit withdrawal symptoms and craving. The researchers confirmed that ibogaine reduces ethanol consumption in rats and limits relapse effects after alcohol withdrawal.

Study at a glance

Abstract

New treatments for addiction could result from studies of ibogaine, an alkaloid derived from a West African shrub. Animal tests and anecdotal evidence in humans have indicated that ibogaine reduces cravings for alcohol and other drugs of abuse. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have confirmed these findings in rodents and determined that ibogaine interacts with the brain's reward circuits. Ibogaine, which has hallucinogenic and neurotoxic side effects, has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration. But some clinicians outside the U.S. use ibogaine to limit patients' withdrawal symptoms and craving for alcohol and other drugs, UCSF reports. Neuroscientists Dorit Ron and Patricia H. Janak and colleagues now provide evidence that backs the clinicians' faith in the compound [ J. Neurosci., 25, 619 (2005)]. The researchers confirmed previous findings that ibogaine reduces ethanol consumption in rats. They also showed that ibogaine limits relapse effects after alcohol withdrawal in rats. The ...