I've recently been interested in this compound and what it can do for addiction. Normally it comes up in the context of freeing people of opiate addiction. However there are claims it can completely cure people of addiction for various substances including alcohol by repairing the reward system in the brain. I heard about it years ago but I didn't see any hard science behind it. Though recently I stumbled upon its mechanism of action, second wiki link below.
Mechanism of action:
I was wondering if anyone had more information on this. If the claims are true, research in this area could produce something remarkable. Ibogaine itself looks like it has some major draw backs. Involves a multi day psychedelic drug effect, it looks like a very "dirty" drug (if im using the correct term) by binding to so many receptors, agonist (binds) to various serotonin receptors and sub types, antagonist (blocks) NMDA and various opiod receptors. There are also reports of some deaths when using Ibogaine. Apparently many of them involved people using drugs while being treated, methadone was mentioned in one case. Either way, I would say its far from safe to jump into.
It looks like the key receptor the drug is working on is the κ-opioid receptor (KOR) which itself when agonised has hallucinogenic and dysphoric effects.
some interesting parts from the wiki on the mechaism of action, I found the second quote interesting, it's bolded, it might explain why alcoholism is genetic:
Looks like some research on going to find selectic antagonists to treat depression and addiction, strange since ibogaine is an agonist.
Mechanism of action:
I was wondering if anyone had more information on this. If the claims are true, research in this area could produce something remarkable. Ibogaine itself looks like it has some major draw backs. Involves a multi day psychedelic drug effect, it looks like a very "dirty" drug (if im using the correct term) by binding to so many receptors, agonist (binds) to various serotonin receptors and sub types, antagonist (blocks) NMDA and various opiod receptors. There are also reports of some deaths when using Ibogaine. Apparently many of them involved people using drugs while being treated, methadone was mentioned in one case. Either way, I would say its far from safe to jump into.
It looks like the key receptor the drug is working on is the κ-opioid receptor (KOR) which itself when agonised has hallucinogenic and dysphoric effects.
some interesting parts from the wiki on the mechaism of action, I found the second quote interesting, it's bolded, it might explain why alcoholism is genetic:
In experimental "addiction" models the KOR has also been shown to influence stress-induced relapse to drug seeking behavior. For the drug-dependent individual, risk of relapse is a major obstacle to becoming drug-free. Recent reports demonstrated that KORs are required for stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking.
Though cocaine abuse is a frequently used model of addiction, KOR agonists have very marked effects on all types of addiction including alcohol, cocaine and opiate abuse.[10] Not only are genetic differences in dynorphin receptor expression a marker for alcohol dependence but a single dose of a KOR antagonist markedly increased alcohol consumption in lab animals.[61] There are numerous studies that reflect a reduction in self-administration of alcohol,[62] and heroin dependence has also been shown to be effectively treated with KOR agonism by reducing the immediate rewarding effects[63] and by causing the curative effect of up-regulation (increased production) of MORs[64] that have been down-regulated during opioid abuse.
The anti-rewarding properties of KOR agonists are mediated through both long-term and short-term effects. The immediate effect of KOR agonism leads to reduction of dopamine release in the NAcc during self-administration of cocaine[65] and over the long term up-regulates receptors that have been down-regulated during substance abuse such as the MOR and the D2 receptor