Ibogaine Proceedings from the First International Conference

Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid derived from the bark of the root of the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, which has a history of use as a sacramental psychopharmacological agent in West Central Africa. Published scientific evidence for ibogaine's effectiveness as a treatment for drug addiction includes studies showing reduced drug self-administration and withdrawal in animals, and case reports in humans. Ibogaine's mechanism of action appears to differ from those of other existing pharmacotherapeutic approaches to addiction and suggests possible normalizing effects on neural signal transduction that may attenuate or reverse abnormal neuroadaptations in drug tolerance and dependence. The iboga alkaloids appear to offer a new pharmacological approach that may provide a paradigm for understanding the neurobiology of addiction and for developing new medications. However, ibogaine is not currently an approved treatment option in the United States. The First International Conference on Ibogaine, held at the New York University School of Medicine in November 1999, offered a lively and productive discussion on ibogaine from pharmacological, clinical, and cultural perspectives. The meeting brought together distinguished researchers in basic and clinical neurosciences, anthropology, and sociology, representing academia, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as former "guides" from the informal treatment context. The interdisciplinary meeting agenda emphasized ibogaine's mechanism of action, including interactions with specific neurotransmitter systems, preclinical models of drug self-administration, and discrimination studies, as well as information on noribogaine, ibogaine's principal metabolite, and 18-methoxycoronaridine, a promising new ibogaine congener. Also discussed was the use of ibogaine in European and U.S. subcultures, in African religion and medicine, and how an understanding of the use of ibogaine in these settings could be applied to accessing hidden populations and optimizing the clinical milieu of current conventional treatment. Key Features · Interdisciplinary and comprehensive in scope-spans the fields of basic and clinical neurosciences, psychopharmacology, anthropology, and sociology · The first English-language scientific book devoted to the subject of ibogaine * Provides up-to-date information regarding ibogaine's mechanism of action, including interactions with specific neurotransmitter systems, preclinical models of drug self-administration, and discrimination studies, as well as information on noribogaine, ibogaine's principal metabolite, and 18-methoxycoronaridine, a promising new ibogaine congener * Includes a history and sociological analysis of the nonmedical "informal" treatment contexts of Europe and the United States, which have existed for more than three decades despite ibogaine's lack of official approval * Includes contributions from former "treatment guides," in addition to respected authors from academia, NIDA, and the FDAAlper, Kenneth R. is the author of 'Ibogaine Proceedings from the First International Conference' with ISBN 9780120532063 and ISBN 0120532069.