[Paleopsych] BH: Confirmed: Hallucinogen Fights Addiction
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Confirmed: Hallucinogen Fights Addiction
http://www.betterhumans.com/Print/index.aspx?ArticleID=2005-01-18-6
Ibogaine reduces alcohol consumption and increases addiction-fighting brain
protein
Betterhumans Staff
1/18/2005 7:40 PM
Breaking the cycle: The hallucinogen ibogaine activates a brain
protein that blocks increased alcohol craving and consumption
following periods of abstinence
A hallucinogen advocated as a potent anti-addiction drug has received
support from research showing that it can block alcohol cravings in
rodents by boosting an addiction-fighting brain protein.
The drug, [8]ibogaine, is derived from a West African shrub called
[9]Tabernanthe iboga. For years it has attracted attention for its
ability to reverse withdrawal symptoms and cravings for alcohol and
other addictive substances.
Used outside the US to treat addiction, it is not approved in the
country by the [10]Food and Drug Administration. Side-effects such as
hallucinations, which made it a popular recreational drug in the
1960s, have impeded clinical studies of its addiction-fighting
capabilities.
American researchers at the [11]University of California, San
Francisco have now shown in mice and rats that the drug reduces
alcohol consumption, and that it does so by increasing levels of the
brain protein glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). The
researchers have also shown that GDNF alone decreases alcohol
consumption.
"By identifying the brain protein that ibogaine regulates to reduce
alcohol consumption in rats, we have established a link between GDNF
and reversal of addiction--knowledge of a molecular mechanism that
should allow development of a new class of drugs to treat addiction
without ibogaine's side-effects," says study coauthor [12]Dorit Ron.
New treatments possible
For their research, Ron and colleagues first gave rats alcohol until
they became daily drinkers. They then withdrew alcohol for two weeks,
which is known to greatly increase drinking when alcohol becomes
available again.
Administering ibogaine, however, significantly reduced the heightened
craving and consumption. The drug was given by injection or directly
into the brain. Rats receiving it drank less and were less likely to
fall off the wagon and revert to their previous drinking habits.
"The discovery that Ibogaine reduced binge drinking after a period of
abstinence was an exciting finding for us because this is the type of
behavior in alcoholics for which very few effective drugs exist," says
study coauthor [13]Patricia Janak.
The researchers also confirmed in a cell model that ibogaine
stimulated GDNF activity. They then confirmed that this was
responsible for the drug's anti-addiction effects by using a GDNF
inhibitor in the rats. This blocked ibogaine's ability to decrease
alcohol craving.
"If we can alter the GDNF pathway, we may well have a new treatment
against alcohol and drug addiction without the unwanted side-effects
of Ibogaine," says Ron.
References
8. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibogaine
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iboga
10. http://www.fda.gov/
11. http://www.ucsf.edu/
12. http://www.ucsf.edu/pibs/faculty/ron.html
13. http://www.ucsf.edu/pibs/faculty/janak.html
14. http://www.jneurosci.org/
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