Ibogaine and cocaine abuse: pharmacological interactions at dopamine and serotonin receptors.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of in vitro receptor binding, perfusion studies, and animal behavioral models.
PubMed 8995326 · doi:10.1016/s0361-9230(96)00296-1
What was done
This narrative review summarized preclinical evidence regarding ibogaine as a putative treatment for drug dependence. The authors reviewed in vitro receptor binding competition studies evaluating ibogaine's affinity for dopamine, serotonin, NMDA, kappa, and sigma receptor sites, in vitro perfusion studies measuring neurotransmitter system interactions, and animal behavioral models assessing stimulant-induced motor stimulation and self-administration.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative metrics or effect sizes. It qualitatively reports that animal data demonstrate ibogaine attenuates stimulant effects such as motor stimulation and self-administration, binding competition assays show affinity at multiple receptor sites (dopamine, serotonin, NMDA, kappa, and sigma), and in vitro perfusion data highlight the role of serotonergic modulation of dopamine release in ibogaine's actions.
Why it matters
The paper outlines candidate neurochemical mechanisms for ibogaine's observed inhibition of stimulant-induced behaviors in animal models, focusing on multi-receptor interactions and serotonergic modulation of dopamine signaling.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical data, sample sizes, or effect estimates. Evidence is limited to in vitro assays and animal behavioral models with no direct human clinical data, and the review methodology (search strategy, inclusion criteria, study count) is not described.
Cited by
- supports Ibogaine interacts broadly with essentially all neurotransmitter systems.