title: Ibogaine antagonizes cocaine-induced locomotor stimulation in mice.
abstract: 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 later. Thus, the reduction in locomotor activity was not just the short-term depression of locomotor activity seen after ibogaine administration. When mice were given a daily injection of cocaine for 3 days and ibogaine was given after the cocaine injection on day 3, and again on day 4, cocaine-induced locomotor activity was reduced three hours later on day 4. On days 5 and 9 of the cocaine administration, with no further ibogaine treatment ambulatory counts were still lower in the ibogaine-pretreated mice. Locomotor stimulation induced by amphetamine (10 mg/kg) was not affected by ibogaine. An acute injection of ibogaine resulted in a transient increase in turnover of dopamine, as indicated by the increase in the ratio of metabolites of the dopamine to dopamine, followed by a decrease in the metabolites in striatum and frontal cortex 24 hr later. In vivo treatment with ibogaine did not affect the binding of [3H]WIN 35,248 to the cocaine binding site in striatal tissue measured in vitro. In addition, ibogaine added in vitro had a weak affinity to the WIN 35,248 binding site (IC50 for cocaine = 120 nM and for ibogaine = 1,500 nM). The results suggest that ibogaine may have induced a selective change in the dopaminergic system that results in a decrease in responsiveness to cocaine that persisted for at least 1 week.
authors.affiliation: Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Division of Neurochemistry, Orangeburg, NY 10962.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sershen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harsing
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lajtha
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001679:Biogenic Amines / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D007050:Ibogaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D001679:Biogenic Amines; D007050:Ibogaine; D000661:Amphetamine; D003042:Cocaine