Ibogaine Research Database

692 research records indexed from PubMed. Plain-language summaries where available.

Of these, 52 are human clinical studies (trials, observational studies, or case reports), 398 are preclinical (animal or lab) studies, and 112 are reviews or meta-analyses summarizing other researchers’ data. A record appearing here does not by itself mean ibogaine is proven effective for a given condition — see each condition page’s evidence breakdown for what’s actually established.

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Studies on Depression(49 of 692)

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Indole Alkaloids as Biased Opioid Receptor Modulators.

Grundmann, Henderson· Pharmaceuticals (Basel)· 2026· PMID: 41901244
Review

Background: Opioid receptors are a commonly used target for treatment of pain conditions. Most opioids used in therapy are linked to adverse effects such as tolerance, dependence, and respiratory depression. Indole alkaloids acting on opioid receptors may provide a novel molecula...

Implications of Potential US FDA Approval of Psychedelics or Psychedelic-Adjacents Such as Ibogaine for Pharmacy in Japan.

Raffa· Cureus· 2026· PMID: 42733721
Review

An Executive Order signed in April 2026 directed US federal agencies to expedite development and review pathways for psychedelic and psychedelic-adjacent (such as ibogaine) therapies. The FDA issued Commissioner's National Priority Vouchers to psilocybin developers, and cleared t...

Beyond the Genomic Storm: Evaluating Tabernanthalog as a Potential Scaffold for Silent Neuroplasticity and Broad-Spectrum Therapy.

Anchesi, Raffaele, Astorino et al.· Int J Mol Sci· 2026· PMID: 41898671
Review

The clinical renaissance of psychedelic medicine has highlighted the therapeutic potential of rapid-acting neuroplastogens, or "psychoplastogens," for psychiatric disorders. However, the widespread application of classical psychedelics-such as psilocybin and LSD-and the atypical ...

Toward a nuanced framework for the medical development of ibogaine and its analogues and derivatives: implications for psychopharmacology.

Verrico, Averill, Moore et al.· Expert Opin Drug Discov· 2026· PMID: 42400152
Review

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring indole alkaloid with suggested therapeutic potential across substance use disorders, trauma-related conditions, mood disorders, and suicidality. However, its clinical translation has been hindered by safety concerns, regulatory barriers, and unce...

Exploring the Use of Ibogaine in Opioid Recovery: Insights from Lived Experience.

Walker, Deering, Unger· Journal of psychoactive drugs· 2026· PMID: 42171381
Preclinical (Lab)

Opioid dependence is a public health concern in New Zealand, with limited treatment options beyond opioid substitution therapy (OST). Ibogaine, a psychoactive alkaloid with reported anti-withdrawal and anti-craving effects for opioid dependence, is legally available by prescripti...

Deciphering Ibogaine's Matrix Pharmacology: Multiple Transporter Modulation at Serotonin Synapses.

Hwu, Havel, Westergaard· Journal of the American Chemical Society· 2026· PMID: 41452009
Preclinical (Animal)

Ibogaine is the main psychoactive alkaloid produced by the iboga tree (Tabernanthe iboga) that has a unique therapeutic potential across multiple indications, including opioid dependence, substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and trau...

Psychedelics, entactogens and psychoplastogens for depression and related disorders.

Hoyer· British journal of pharmacology· 2026· PMID: 40518133
Review

Currently, the most actively investigated rapidly acting antidepressants, anxiolytics and/or anti PTSD agents, include psychedelics e.g. psilocybin, LSD, N,N-dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca; non-hallucinogenic entactogens, e.g. MDMA; psychoplastogens which rapidly promote neuroplas...

Use of Psychedelic Agents in Older Adults with Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder: What the Evidence Shows.

Vinarcsik, Smoller, Grossberg· Drugs Aging· 2025· PMID: 40553322
Review

The use of drugs with psychedelic and dissociative effects for the treatment of psychiatric illnesses has become increasingly popular in recent years. However, few trials have been conducted to determine the efficacy of these agents in the specific setting of treatment-resistant ...

Psychedelic-induced behavioral and developmental effects on zebrafish: a systematic review.

de Oliveira, de Oliveira, Dos Santos et al.· Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry· 2025· PMID: 41125218
Systematic Review

Psychedelics are mind-altering substances that have shown promising effects in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders owing to their antidepressant, anxiolytic and antiaddictive effects. However, data on their developmental toxicity is scarce, which might hinder its therapeu...

Neuroscience

Eliasen, Rezagholizadeh, Jacobsen et al.· Neuroscience· 2025· PMID: 41057132
Preclinical (Animal)

Depression and substance use disorder affect millions world-wide, and risk factors include sex. Conventional pharmacotherapies show at best a 50 % success rate. Psychedelics exhibit both anti-addictive and anti-depressive properties. One of these, ibogaine, a root bark sourced al...

Changing your mind: neuroplastic mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of psychedelics in depression, PTSD, and addiction.

Palhas, Corne, Mongeau· Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry· 2025· PMID: 41130352
Review

After years of restrictions due to concerns about their potentially harmful effects, research on psychedelics has entered a new era. Increasing attention has been directed toward their immense therapeutic potential, particularly for psychiatric disorders. Pre-clinical and clinica...

European journal of pharmacology

Arias, Kazmierska-Grebowska, Kowalczyk et al.· Eur J Pharmacol· 2024· PMID: 39179091
Preclinical (Animal)

The coronaridine congeners catharanthine and 18-methoxycoronaridine (18-MC) display sedative, anxiolytic, and antidepressant properties by acting on mechanisms involving GABAergic and/or monoaminergic transmissions. Here, we expanded their pharmacological properties by studying t...

Noribogaine acute administration in rats promotes wakefulness and suppresses REM sleep.

Castro-Nin, Serantes, Rodriguez et al.· Psychopharmacology (Berl)· 2024· PMID: 38467891
Preclinical (Animal)

Ibogaine is a potent atypical psychedelic that has gained considerable attention due to its antiaddictive and antidepressant properties in preclinical and clinical studies. Previous research from our group showed that ibogaine suppresses sleep and produces an altered wakefulness ...

Trauma-Informed Care in Psychedelic Therapy Research: A Qualitative Literature Review of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Interventions in PTSD and Psychedelic Therapy Across Conditions.

Modlin, Creed, Sarang· Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment· 2024· PMID: 38268571
Review

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with significant patient burden. While pharmacotherapies and evidence-based psychotherapy interventions (EBPI) are effective, studies consistently highlight inadequate outcomes and high treatment dropout. Psychedelic therapy (PT...

Psychedelic Therapy: A Primer for Primary Care Clinicians-Ibogaine.

Cherian, Shinozuka, Tabaac· American journal of therapeutics· 2024· PMID: 38518270
Unclassified

Ibogaine is a plant-derived alkaloid that has been used for thousands of years in rites of passage and spiritual ceremonies in West-Central Africa. In the West, it has primarily been used and studied for its anti-addictive properties and more recently for other neuropsychiatric i...

Central nervous system activity of a Tabernaemontana arborea alkaloid extract involves serotonergic and opioidergic neurotransmission in murine models.

González-Trujano, Páez-Martínez, Krengel et al.· Fitoterapia· 2023· PMID: 37423501
Preclinical (Animal)

Tabernaemontana arborea (Apocynaceae) is a Mexican tree species known to contain ibogan type alkaloids. This study aimed at determining central nervous system-related activities of an alkaloid extract obtained from the root bark of T. arborea. A gas chromatography-mass spectromet...

Multi-state Model-Based Identification of Cryptic Allosteric Sites on Human Serotonin Transporter.

Tu, Xu, Luo et al.· ACS Chem Neurosci· 2023· PMID: 37067527
Unclassified

Serotonin transporter (SERT) plays a fundamental role in taking the synaptic cleft serotonin back to the presynaptic neuron. The discovery of allosteric SERT modulators represents the next-generation medication for psychiatric disorders such as depression. Here, based on the cryo...

Natural psychedelics in the treatment of depression; a review focusing on neurotransmitters.

Jahanabadi, Amiri, Karkeh-Abadi et al.· Fitoterapia· 2023· PMID: 37490982
Review

Natural psychedelic compounds are emerging as potential novel therapeutics in psychiatry. This review will discuss how natural psychedelics exert their neurobiological therapeutic effects, and how different neurotransmission systems mediate the effects of these compounds. Further...

(+)-Catharanthine and (-)-18-methoxycoronaridine induce antidepressant-like activity in mice by differently recruiting serotonergic and norepinephrinergic neurotransmission.

Arias, De Deurwaerdère, El-Kasaby et al.· Eur J Pharmacol· 2023· PMID: 36549498
Preclinical (Animal)

The antidepressant-like activity of (+)-catharanthine and (-)-18-methoxycoronaridine [(-)-18-MC] was studied in male and female mice using forced swim (FST) and tail suspension tests (TST). The underlying molecular mechanism was assessed by electrophysiological, radioligand, and ...

A mechanism of uncompetitive inhibition of the serotonin transporter.

Bhat, El-Kasaby, Kasture et al.· Elife· 2023· PMID: 36648438
Unclassified

The serotonin transporter (SERT/SLC6A4) is arguably the most extensively studied solute carrier (SLC). During its eponymous action - that is, the retrieval of serotonin from the extracellular space - SERT undergoes a conformational cycle. Typical inhibitors (antidepressant drugs ...

Structure-based discovery of conformationally selective inhibitors of the serotonin transporter.

Singh, Seth, Billesbølle et al.· Cell· 2023· PMID: 37137306
Preclinical (Animal)

The serotonin transporter (SERT) removes synaptic serotonin and is the target of anti-depressant drugs. SERT adopts three conformations: outward-open, occluded, and inward-open. All known inhibitors target the outward-open state except ibogaine, which has unusual anti-depressant ...

Ibogaine microdosing in a patient with bipolar depression: a case report.

Fernandes-Nascimento, Viana-Ferreira, Chaves et al.· Braz J Psychiatry· 2022· PMID: 35896190
Preclinical (Lab)

Neurotoxicology

González-Trujano, Krengel, Reyes-Chilpa et al.· Neurotoxicology· 2022· PMID: 34999156
Preclinical (Animal)

Several Apocynaceae species, most notably Tabernanthe iboga, Voacanga africana and many Tabernaemontana species, produce ibogan-type alkaloids. Although a large amount of information exists about the Tabernaemontana genus, knowledge concerning chemistry and biological activity re...

A systematic literature review of clinical trials and therapeutic applications of ibogaine.

Köck, Froelich, Walter et al.· J Subst Abuse Treat· 2022· PMID: 35012793
Systematic Review

Iboga and its primary alkaloids, ibogaine and noribogaine, have been of interest to researchers and practitioners, mainly due to their putative efficacy in treating substance use disorders (SUDs). For many SUDs, still no effective pharmacotherapies exist. Distinct psychoactive an...

Registered clinical studies investigating psychedelic drugs for psychiatric disorders.

Siegel, Meshkat, Benitah· Journal of psychiatric research· 2021· PMID: 34048997
Review

Psychedelics are a hallucinogenic class of psychoactive drugs with the primary effect of activating non-ordinary states of consciousness. Due to the positive preliminary findings of these drugs in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, the number of registered clinical studies h...

A Single Administration of the Atypical Psychedelic Ibogaine or Its Metabolite Noribogaine Induces an Antidepressant-Like Effect in Rats.

Rodrı Guez, Urbanavicius, Prieto et al.· ACS Chem Neurosci· 2020· PMID: 32330007
Preclinical (Animal)

Anecdotal reports and open-label case studies in humans indicated that the psychedelic alkaloid ibogaine exerts profound antiaddictive effects. Ample preclinical evidence demonstrated the efficacy of ibogaine, and its main metabolite, noribogaine, in substance-use-disorder rodent...

Substrate and inhibitor binding to the serotonin transporter: Insights from computational, crystallographic, and functional studies.

Zeppelin, Ladefoged, Sinning et al.· Neuropharmacology· 2019· PMID: 30807752
Review

The serotonin transporter (SERT) belongs to the monoamine transporter family, which also includes the dopamine and norepinephrine transporters. SERT is essential for regulating serotonergic signaling by the reuptake of serotonin from the synaptic cleft back into the presynaptic n...

Conformational dynamics of the human serotonin transporter during substrate and drug binding.

Möller, Slivacka, Nielsen· Nature communications· 2019· PMID: 30976000
Preclinical (Lab)

The serotonin transporter (SERT), a member of the neurotransmitter:sodium symporter family, is responsible for termination of serotonergic signaling by re-uptake of serotonin (5-HT) into the presynaptic neuron. Its key role in synaptic transmission makes it a major drug target, e...

Hallucinogens and Their Therapeutic Use: A Literature Review.

Begola, Schillerstrom· J Psychiatr Pract· 2019· PMID: 31505518
Review

The exploration of possible therapeutic benefits of hallucinogenic substances has undergone a revitalization in the past decade. This literature review investigated the published literature regarding the psychotherapeutic uses of hallucinogens in psychiatric disorders. The result...

Serotonin transporter-ibogaine complexes illuminate mechanisms of inhibition and transport.

Coleman, Yang, Zhao et al.· Nature· 2019· PMID: 31019304
Unclassified

The serotonin transporter (SERT) regulates neurotransmitter homeostasis through the sodium- and chloride-dependent recycling of serotonin into presynaptic neurons1-3. Major depression and anxiety disorders are treated using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors-small molecules ...

DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Ibogaine.

Wasko, Witt-Enderby, Surratt· ACS chemical neuroscience· 2018· PMID: 30216039
Review

The West African iboga plant has been used for centuries by the Bwiti and Mbiri tribes to induce hallucinations during religious ceremonies. Ibogaine, the principal alkaloid responsible for iboga's psychedelic properties, was isolated and sold as an antidepressant in France for d...

Subjective effectiveness of ibogaine treatment for problematic opioid consumption: Short- and long-term outcomes and current psychological functioning.

Davis, Barsuglia, Windham-Herman et al.· J Psychedelic Stud· 2017· PMID: 30272050
Preclinical (Lab)

Very few studies have reported the effectiveness of ibogaine as a treatment for chronic opioid use. Therefore, this study evaluated the acute subjective effects of ibogaine, outcomes on problematic opioid consumption, and the long-term associations with psychological functioning....

Deconstructing the Iboga Alkaloid Skeleton: Potentiation of FGF2-induced Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Release by a Novel Compound.

Gassaway, Jacques, Kruegel et al.· ACS Chem Biol· 2016· PMID: 26517751
Preclinical (Animal)

Modulation of growth factor signaling pathways in the brain represents a new experimental approach to treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. Neurotrophins and growth factors exert synaptic, neuronal, and circuit level effects on a wide tem...

Psychedelics as medicines for substance abuse rehabilitation: evaluating treatments with LSD, Peyote, Ibogaine and Ayahuasca.

Winkelman· Curr Drug Abuse Rev· 2014· PMID: 25563446
Review

Substances known as psychedelics, hallucinogens and entheogens have been employed in ethnomedical traditions for thousands of years, but after promising uses in the 1950's and 1960's they were largely prohibited in medical treatment and human research starting in the 1970's as pa...

Brain regions mediating α3β4 nicotinic antagonist effects of 18-MC on nicotine self-administration.

Glick, Sell, McCallum et al.· Eur J Pharmacol· 2011· PMID: 21871879
Preclinical (Animal)

18-Methoxycoronaridine (18-MC), a putative anti-addictive agent, has been shown to decrease the self-administration of several drugs of abuse in rats. 18-MC is a potent antagonist at α3β4 nicotinic receptors. Consistent with high densities of α3β4 nicotinic receptors being locate...

The high-affinity binding site for tricyclic antidepressants resides in the outer vestibule of the serotonin transporter.

Sarker, Weissensteiner, Steiner et al.· Mol Pharmacol· 2010· PMID: 20829432
Unclassified

The structure of the bacterial leucine transporter from Aquifex aeolicus (LeuT(Aa)) has been used as a model for mammalian Na(+)/Cl(-)-dependent transporters, in particular the serotonin transporter (SERT). The crystal structure of LeuT(Aa) liganded to tricyclic antidepressants p...

Fluoxetine (Prozac) binding to serotonin transporter is modulated by chloride and conformational changes.

Tavoulari, Forrest, Rudnick· J Neurosci· 2009· PMID: 19641126
Preclinical (Animal)

Serotonin transporter (SERT) is the main target for widely used antidepressant agents. Several of these drugs, including imipramine, citalopram, sertraline, and fluoxetine (Prozac), bound more avidly to SERT in the presence of Cl(-). In contrast, Cl(-) did not enhance cocaine or ...

Sigma-1 receptor activation prevents intracellular calcium dysregulation in cortical neurons during in vitro ischemia.

Katnik, Guerrero, Pennypacker et al.· J Pharmacol Exp Ther· 2006· PMID: 16988055
Preclinical (Animal)

Sigma receptors are putative targets for neuroprotection following ischemia; however, little is known on their mechanism of action. One of the key components in the demise of neurons following ischemic injury is the disruption of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Fluorometric ca...

sigma Receptor activation blocks potassium channels and depresses neuroexcitability in rat intracardiac neurons.

Zhang, Cuevas· J Pharmacol Exp Ther· 2005· PMID: 15764734
Preclinical (Animal)

The sigma receptors have been implicated in the regulation of the cardiovascular system, and sigma-1 receptor transcripts have been found in parasympathetic intracardiac neurons. However, the cellular function of sigma-1 receptors in these cells remains to be determined. Effects ...

Sigma receptors inhibit high-voltage-activated calcium channels in rat sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons.

Zhang, Cuevas· J Neurophysiol· 2002· PMID: 12037190
Preclinical (Animal)

Studies on the expression and cellular function of sigma receptors in autonomic neurons were conducted in neonatal rat intracardiac and superior cervical (SCG) ganglia. Individual neurons from SCG and intracardiac ganglia were shown to express transcripts encoding the sigma-1 rec...

Noncompetitive functional inhibition at diverse, human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes by bupropion, phencyclidine, and ibogaine.

Fryer, Lukas· J Pharmacol Exp Ther· 1999· PMID: 9862757
Unclassified

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) are diverse members of the neurotransmitter-gated ion channel superfamily and play critical roles in chemical signaling throughout the nervous system. The present study establishes the acute functional effects of bupropion, phencyclidine,...

18-Methoxycoronardine attenuates nicotine-induced dopamine release and nicotine preferences in rats.

Glick, Maisonneuve, Visker et al.· Psychopharmacology (Berl)· 1998· PMID: 9784085
Preclinical (Animal)

Two studies were conducted to assess, in vivo, potential anti-nicotinic effects of the iboga alkaloid ibogaine and its synthetic congener 18-methoxycoronaridine (18-MC). As previously demonstrated for ibogaine, using microdialysis, pretreatment (19h beforehand) with 18-MC (40 mg/...

Ibogaine and a total alkaloidal extract of Voacanga africana modulate neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission in the rat parabrachial nucleus in vitro.

Kombian, Saleh, Fiagbe et al.· Brain Res Bull· 1997· PMID: 9365804
Preclinical (Animal)

Ibogaine is a natural alkaloid of Voacanga africana that is effective in the treatment of withdrawal symptoms and craving in drug addicts. As the synaptic and cellular basis of ibogaine's actions are not well understood, this study tested the hypothesis that ibogaine and Voacanga...

Discriminative stimulus effects of R-(+)-3-amino-1-hydroxypyrrolid-2-one, [(+)-HA-966], a partial agonist of the strychnine-insensitive modulatory site of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor.

Witkin, Brave, French et al.· J Pharmacol Exp Ther· 1995· PMID: 8531091
Preclinical (Animal)

The strychnine-insensitive glycine site on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor complex is a target for development of a host of therapeutic agents including anxiolytics, antidepressants, antiepileptics, anti-ischemics and cognitive enhancers. In the present experiments, the ...

Acute and prolonged effects of ibogaine on brain dopamine metabolism and morphine-induced locomotor activity in rats.

Maisonneuve, Rossman, Keller et al.· Brain Res· 1992· PMID: 1504783
Preclinical (Animal)

Ibogaine, an indolalkylamine, proposed for use in treating opiate and stimulant addiction, has been shown to modulate the dopaminergic system acutely and one day later. In the present study we sought to systematically determine the effects of ibogaine on the levels of dopamine (D...

Ibogaine antagonizes cocaine-induced locomotor stimulation in mice.

Sershen, Hashim, Harsing et al.· Life Sci· 1992· PMID: 1556903
Preclinical (Animal)

Ibogaine (40 mg/kg i.p.), when given 2 hours before an acute injection of cocaine (25 mg/kg s.c.) to C57BL/6 mice, reduced the cocaine-induced locomotor stimulation. Such stimulation was also reduced in the ibogaine-treated mice when a second injection of cocaine was given 24 hr ...

Effects and aftereffects of ibogaine on morphine self-administration in rats.

Glick, Rossman, Steindorf et al.· Eur J Pharmacol· 1991· PMID: 1868880
Preclinical (Animal)

Ibogaine, a naturally occurring alkaloid, has been claimed to be effective in treating addition to opiate and stimulant drugs. As a preclinical test of this claim, the present study sought to determine if ibogaine would reduce the intravenous self-administration of morphine in ra...

Neocortical rhythmic slow activity during wakefulness and paradoxical sleep in rats.

Depoortere· Neuropsychobiology· 1987· PMID: 3453433
Preclinical (Animal)

In the present study, we investigated the different types of neocortical rhythmic slow activity (RSA) during wakefulness and paradoxical sleep as well as their pharmacological modification. During wakefulness, the high-frequency (7-9 Hz) RSA1 type, which is atropine-resistant, is...

Effects of tabernanthine on calcium and catecholamine stimulated contractions of isolated vascular and cardiac muscle.

Hajo-Tello, Dupont, Wepierre et al.· Arch Int Pharmacodyn Ther· 1985· PMID: 4051637
Preclinical (Animal)

The Iboga alkaloid tabernanthine (80 microM) non-competitively antagonized contractions in both the rat aorta and mesenteric artery induced by cumulative additions of noradrenaline and calcium. Tabernanthine (8, 40 and 80 microM) antagonized the K+ depolarization-induced contract...