Ibogaine

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Ibogaine
Clinical data
Other names12-Methoxyibogamine
Routes of
administration
Oral
ATC code
  • None
Legal status
Legal status
Identifiers
  • (1R,15R,17S,18S)-17-ethyl-7-methoxy-3,13-diazapentacyclo[13.3.1.02,10.04,9.013,18]nonadeca-2(10),4(9),5,7-tetraene
JSmol)
Melting point152 to 153 °C (306 to 307 °F)
  • CC[C@H]1C[C@@H]2C[C@H]3c4[nH]c5ccc(OC)cc5c4CC[N@@](C2)[C@@H]13
  • InChI=1S/C20H26N2O/c1-3-13-8-12-9-17-19-15(6-7-22(11-12)20(13)17)16-10-14(23-2)4-5-18(16)21-19/h4-5,10,12-13,17,20-21H,3,6-9,11H2,1-2H3/t12-,13+,17+,20+/m1/s1 checkY
  • Key:HSIBGVUMFOSJPD-CFDPKNGZSA-N checkY
  (verify)

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants in the family Apocynaceae such as Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana, and Tabernaemontana undulata. It is a psychedelic with dissociative properties.

During an eighteen year timeline, a total of 19 fatalities temporally associated with the ingestion of ibogaine were reported, from which six subjects died of acute heart failure or cardiopulmonary arrest. Its

18-MC
) are under preliminary research.

The psychoactivity of the root bark of the iboga tree (Tabernanthe iboga), from which ibogaine is

anti-addictive properties were first widely promoted in 1962 by Howard Lotsof
, its Western medical use predates that by at least a century.

Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid obtained either by extraction from the iboga plant or by semi-synthesis from the precursor compound voacangine, another plant alkaloid. The total synthesis of ibogaine was described in 1956.[4] Structural elucidation by X-ray crystallography was completed in 1960.[5][6][7]

Psychoactive effects

Ibogaine is derived from the root of

negative emotions.[citation needed] Ibogaine catalyzes an altered state of consciousness reminiscent of dreaming while fully conscious and aware so that memories, life experiences, and issues of trauma can be processed.[9]

Uses

Ibogaine-containing shredded bark of Tabernanthe iboga for consumption

Medical

Clinical studies of ibogaine to treat drug addiction began in the early 1990s, but concerns about cardiotoxicity terminated those studies.[10] A 2022 review indicated that severe adverse effects, including deaths, have impeded progress toward clinical adoption of ibogaine for use in opioid abstinence.[11] There is insufficient evidence to determine whether ibogaine is useful for treating addiction.[11][12]

Adverse effects

Immediate

One of the first noticeable effects of large-dose ibogaine ingestion is ataxia, a difficulty in coordinating muscle motion which makes standing and walking difficult without assistance. Xerostomia (dry mouth), nausea, and vomiting may follow. These symptoms may be long in duration, ranging from four to 24 hours in some cases. Ibogaine is sometimes administered per rectum to avoid nausea and vomiting. Some studies show that Ibogaine can decrease body temperature.[13]

Cardiovascular

Ibogaine causes long QT syndrome at higher doses, apparently by blocking hERG potassium channels in the heart.[14]

Neurotoxicity

Work in the laboratory of Mark Molliver at

Purkinje cells observed in rats given substantially larger dosages of ibogaine than those used to study drug self-administration and withdrawal.[15] However, subsequent research found no evidence of neurotoxicity in a primate[16] or mouse[17] at dosages that produced cerebellar degeneration in the rat, and it has been suggested that cerebellar degeneration might be a phenomenon limited to a single species.[18] The FDA was aware of Molliver's work at the time it approved a phase-1 study in which humans received ibogaine in 1993.[19] Neuropathological examination revealed no evidence of degenerative changes in a woman who had received four separate doses of ibogaine ranging between 10 and 30 mg⁄ kg over a 15-month interval.[16] A published series of fatalities temporally associated with the ingestion of ibogaine found no evidence suggesting a characteristic syndrome of neurotoxicity.[20]

Interactions

Adverse interactions may occur between ibogaine and psychiatric medications. Some studies also suggest the possibility of adverse interaction with heart conditions.[14][20]

Because ibogaine is one of the many drugs that are partly metabolized by the

foods or drugs that interfere with these CYP450 enzymes, in particular foods containing bergamottin or bergamot oil, such as grapefruit juice.[21]

Ibogaine is an antagonist to reserpine.[13]

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics

Ibogaine (and metabolite)[22][23]
Site Ibogaine Noribogaine
MOR
Tooltip μ-Opioid receptor
2,000–100,000 700–3,000
DOR
Tooltip δ-Opioid receptor
>100,000 5,000–25,000
KOR
Tooltip κ-Opioid receptor
2,000–4,000 600–1,000
5-HT2A
16,000 >100,000
5-HT2C
>10,000 >10,000
5-HT3
2,600 >100,000
σ1 2,500–9,000 11,000–15,000
σ2 90–400 5,000–19,000
NMDA
Tooltip N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor
1,000–3,000 6,000–15,000
nAChTooltip Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor 20 1,500
SERTTooltip Serotonin transporter 500 40
DATTooltip Dopamine transporter 2,000 2,000
Values are Ki (nM). The smaller the value, the
more strongly the drug binds to the site.

Ibogaine affects many different neurotransmitter systems simultaneously.[24][19]

Noribogaine is most potent as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It acts as a moderate κ-opioid receptor agonist[25] and weak μ-opioid receptor agonist[26] or weak partial agonist.[27] It is possible that the action of ibogaine at the kappa opioid receptor may indeed contribute significantly to the psychoactive effects attributed to ibogaine ingestion; Salvia divinorum, another plant recognized for its strong hallucinogenic properties, contains the chemical salvinorin A, which is a highly selective kappa opioid agonist. Noribogaine is more potent than ibogaine in rat drug discrimination assays when tested for the subjective effects of ibogaine.[28]

Pharmacokinetics

Ibogaine is metabolized in the human body by cytochrome P450 2D6 (

plasma half-life of around two hours in the rat,[29] although the half-life of noribogaine is slightly longer than that of the parent compound. It is proposed that ibogaine is deposited in fat and metabolized into noribogaine as it is released.[30] After ibogaine ingestion in humans, noribogaine shows higher plasma levels than ibogaine and is detected for a longer period of time than ibogaine.[31]

Chemistry

The general structure of tryptamines.

Ibogaine is a substituted tryptamine. It has two separate chiral centers, meaning that there are four different stereoisomers of ibogaine. These four isomers are difficult to resolve.[32]

Synthesis

One recent total synthesis

, the ibogaine precursor 7-ethyl-2-(2-(2-iodo-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl)-2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-5-ene is obtained. Using palladium acetate in DMF, the ibogaine is obtained. If the exo ethyl group on the 2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane system in ibogaine is replaced with an endo ethyl, then epiibogaine is formed.

Crystalline ibogaine hydrochloride is typically produced by semi-synthesis from voacangine in commercial laboratories.[34][35] It can be prepared from voacangine through one-step demethoxycarbonylation process too.[36]

Derivatives

A synthetic derivative of ibogaine,

cardiac arrhythmias, and tabernanthalog failed to produce any head twitch response, suggesting psychedelic effects were absent.[40][41]

Biosynthesis

Biosynthesis

Ibogaine biosynthesis begins with tryptophan undergoing enzymatic decarboxylation by tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) to form a tryptamine. Secologanin, an iridoid synthesized from isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP), is reacted with tryptamine to make strictosidine. A glycosidic bond cleavage of strictosidine by strictosidine β-deglucosidase (SGD) produces a lactol. The lactol opens and produces an aldehyde, then condenses to form an iminium. Through isomerization and reduction by geissoschizine synthase 1 (GS1), 19E-geissoschizine is yielded. The indole is oxidized and the molecule undergoes intramolecular Mannich reaction and Grob fragmentation to form preakuammicine. Preakuammicine is highly unstable and therefore reduced to stemmadenine by oxidation-reduction reactions (REDOX 1 and REDOX 2). Stemmadine is acylated by stemmadine Ο-acetyltransferase (SAT) to yield stemmadine acetate. Through oxidation by precondylocarpine acetate synthase (PAS) and reduction by dihydroprecondylocarpine acetate synthase (DPAS), an enamine intermediate is formed. The intermediate undergoes fragmentation to produce an iminium that tautomerizes to yield dehydrosecodine. Coronaridine synthase (CorS) catalyzes the isomerization of dehydrosecodine and an unusual cycloaddition is completed. The iminium is reduced by DPAS and NADPH to form (-)-coronaridine.

There are two pathways (-)-coronaridine can take to become (-)-ibogaine. The first pathway begins with a P450 enzyme, ibogamine-10-hydroxylase (I10H), and methylation of noribogaine-10-Ο-methyltransferase (N10OMT) to produce (-)-voacangine. Polyneudridine aldehyde esterase-like 1 (PNAE1) and a spontaneous decarboxylation can convert (-)-voacangine to (-)-ibogaine. The second pathway consists of PNAE1 and the spontaneous decarboxylation occurring first to yield (-)-ibogamine, then the reaction of I10H-mediated hydroxylation and N10OMT-catalyzed O-methylation to produce (-)-ibogaine.[42]

Natural occurrence

Ibogaine occurs naturally in iboga root bark. Ibogaine is also available in a total alkaloid extract of the Tabernanthe iboga plant, which also contains all the other iboga alkaloids and thus has only about half the potency by weight of standardized ibogaine hydrochloride.[34]

History

The use of iboga in African spiritual ceremonies was first reported by French and Belgian explorers in the 19th century, beginning with the work of French naval physician and

iboga in 1901 by Dybowski and Landrin[44] and independently by Haller and Heckel in the same year using T. iboga samples from Gabon. Complete synthesis of ibogaine was accomplished by G. Büchi in 1966.[45] Since then, several other synthesis methods have been developed.[46]

From the 1930s to 1960s, ibogaine was sold in France in the form of Lambarène, an extract of the Tabernanthe manii plant, and promoted as a mental and physical stimulant. The drug enjoyed some popularity among post-World War II athletes. Lambarène was withdrawn from the market in 1966 when the sale of ibogaine-containing products became illegal in France.[47]

In the late 1960s, the World Health Assembly classified ibogaine as a "substance likely to cause dependency or endanger human health"; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assigned it Schedule I classification, and the International Olympic Committee banned it as a potential doping agent.[48]

Anecdotal reports concerning ibogaine's effects appeared in the early 1960s.[49] Its anti-addictive properties were discovered accidentally by Howard Lotsof in 1962, at the age of 19, when he and five friends—all heroin addicts—noted subjective reduction of their craving and withdrawal symptoms while taking it.[50] Further anecdotal observation convinced Lotsof of its potential usefulness in treating substance addictions. He contracted with a Belgian company to produce ibogaine in tablet form for clinical trials in the Netherlands, and was awarded a United States patent for the product in 1985. The first objective, placebo-controlled evidence of ibogaine's ability to attenuate opioid withdrawal in rats was published by Dzoljic et al. in 1988.[51] Diminution of morphine self-administration was reported in preclinical studies by Glick et al. in 1991.[52] Cappendijk et al. demonstrated reduction in cocaine self-administration in rats in 1993,[53] and Rezvani reported reduced alcohol dependence in three strains of "alcohol-preferring" rats in 1995.[54]

As the use of ibogaine spread, its administration varied widely; some groups administered it systematically using well-developed methods and medical personnel, while others employed haphazard and possibly dangerous methodology. Lotsof and his colleagues, committed to the traditional administration of ibogaine, developed treatment regimens themselves. In 1992, Eric Taub brought ibogaine to an offshore location close to the United States, where he began providing treatments and popularizing its use.[55] In Costa Rica, Lex Kogan, another leading proponent, joined Taub in systematizing its administration. The two men established medically monitored treatment clinics in several countries.[56]

In 1981, an unnamed European manufacturer produced 44 kg of iboga extract. The entire stock was purchased by Carl Waltenburg, who distributed it under the name "Indra extract" and used it in 1982 to treat heroin addicts in the community of Christiania.[8] Indra extract was available for sale over the Internet until 2006, when the Indra web presence disappeared. Various products are currently sold in a number of countries as "Indra extract", but it is unclear if any of them are derived from Waltenburg's original stock. Ibogaine and related indole compounds are susceptible to oxidation over time.[57][58]

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) began funding clinical studies of ibogaine in the United States in the early 1990s, but terminated the project in 1995.[59] Data demonstrating ibogaine's efficacy in attenuating opioid withdrawal in drug-dependent human subjects was published by Alper et al. in 1999.[60] A cohort of 33 patients were treated with 6 to 29 mg/kg of ibogaine; 25 displayed resolution of the signs of opioid withdrawal from 24 hours to 72 hours post-treatment, but one 24-year-old female, who received the highest dosage, died. Mash et al. (2000), using lower oral doses (10–12 mg/kg) in 27 patients, demonstrated significantly lower objective opiate withdrawal scores in heroin addicts 36 hours after treatment, with self-reports of decreased cocaine and opiate craving and alleviated depression symptoms. Many of these effects appeared sustainable over a one-month post-discharge follow-up.[61]

Society and culture

Legal status

As of 2024, the legal status of ibogaine varies widely among countries, as it may be illegal to possess or use, may be legalized, may be decriminalized, or is under consideration for future legislation.[62]

In the United States, although some cities and states have decriminalized psychedelic chemicals, plants and mushrooms, ibogaine has had minimal legislation, and remains illegal under federal law, as of 2023.[62][63] The US Drug Enforcement Administration enforces ibogaine as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.[64]

Treatment clinics

Ibogaine treatment clinics have emerged in Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand, all operating in what has been described as a "legal gray area".[65][66] Costa Rica also has treatment centers.[56] Covert, illegal neighborhood clinics are known to exist in the United States, despite active DEA surveillance.[67] While clinical guidelines for ibogaine-assisted detoxification were released by the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance in 2015,[68][69] addiction specialists warn that the treatment of drug dependence with ibogaine in non-medical settings, without expert supervision and unaccompanied by appropriate psychosocial care, can be dangerous — and, in approximately one case in 300, potentially fatal.[66]

Media

Documentary films

Print media

While in Wisconsin covering the primary campaign for the United States presidential election of 1972, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson submitted a satirical article to Rolling Stone accusing Democratic Party candidate Edmund Muskie of being addicted to ibogaine. Many readers, and even other journalists, did not realize that the Rolling Stone piece was facetious. The ibogaine assertion, which was completely unfounded, did significant damage to Muskie's reputation, and was cited as a factor in his loss of the nomination to George McGovern.[73] Thompson later said he was surprised that anyone believed it.[74] The article is included in Thompson's post-election anthology, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973).[75]

Author and

Yippie Dana Beal co-wrote the 1997 book The Ibogaine Story.[76]

American author Daniel Pinchbeck wrote about his own experience of ibogaine in his book Breaking Open the Head (2002),[77] and in a 2003 article for The Guardian titled "Ten years of therapy in one night".[78]

Author and musician Geoff Rickly based his debut novel Someone Who Isn't Me on his real-life experiences with heroin addiction and an ibogaine clinic in Mexico.[79]

Television drama

Ibogaine factors into the stories of these episodes from television drama series:

  • "Patent Pending". FBI: Most Wanted. Season 4. Episode 6. 15 November 2022. CBS.
  • "Via Negativa". The X-Files. Season 8. Episode 7. 17 December 2000. Fox Broadcasting Company.
  • "Getting Off". CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Season 4. Episode 16. 26 February 2004. CBS.
  • "Users". Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Season 11. Episode 7. 4 November 2009. NBC.
  • "Echoes".
    The CW Television Network
    .
  • "
    One Last Time". Homeland (TV series). Season 3. Episode 9. 24 November 2013. Showtime
    .
  • "Bon Voyage". Graceland (TV series). Season 3. Episode 7. 6 August 2015. USA Network.

Radio

  • "Sink or Swim. Act Two. I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One at the Holiday Inn.". This American Life. Episode 321. 1 December 2006. — A former heroin addict realizes that he wants to help other addicts kick their habits. The problem is, he wants to do this using a hallucinogenic drug - ibogaine - that is completely illegal, and which requires medical expertise he doesn't have.[80]

Research

Addiction treatment

The most-studied therapeutic effect of ibogaine is the possible reduction or elimination of addiction to opioids. Research suggests that ibogaine may be useful in treating dependence on other substances such as alcohol, methamphetamine, and nicotine, and may affect compulsive behavioral patterns not involving substance abuse or chemical dependence.[medical citation needed] Researchers note that there remains a "need for systematic investigation in a conventional clinical research setting."[49]

Many users of ibogaine report experiencing visual phenomena during a waking dream state, such as instructive replays of life events that led to their addiction, while others report therapeutic

negative emotions that might drive their addiction. It is proposed that intensive counseling, therapy, and aftercare during the interruption period following treatment is of significant value. Some individuals require a second or third treatment session with ibogaine over the course of 12 to 18 months. A minority of individuals relapse completely into opiate addiction within days or weeks.[81]

Psychotherapy

Ibogaine was used as an adjunct to psychotherapy by Claudio Naranjo, documented in his book The Healing Journey.[82] He was awarded patent CA 939266  in 1974.

See also

References

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