Researchers have invented a non-hallucinogenic form of ibogaine that treats stress

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Researchers have developed a new experimental compound that potentially offers the stress-relieving properties of ibogaine without the toxic or hallucinogenic side effects.

Ibogaine is a psychedelic alkaloid that grows naturally in a variety of plants native to west central Africa in a tiny country called Gabon. Native tribes have used iboga for medicinal and spiritual purposes for centuries, but in recent years more and more Westerners have discovered the healing potential of this powerful psychedelic. Most importantly, ibogaine has shown incredible promise in helping people overcome their long-term addiction to heroin, alcohol, or other drugs.

Much like ayahuasca or peyote, ibogaine is usually consumed in clinics or retreats under the supervision of counselors or therapists. In a controlled environment, ibogaine users often find that they can face their deepest fears, fears and trauma and help them overcome addictive behaviors. Unfortunately, this compound can cause abnormal heart rhythms that can be fatal to people with underlying heart disease.

Most researchers studying the therapeutic uses of psychedelics have avoided ibogaine because of these potential health risks, but David Olson and a team of researchers at UC Davis found a way to harness the medicinal potential of this medicinal herb. Olson and his team developed a new experimental compound called Tabernanthalog (TBG), a synthetic analog of ibogaine that appears to be free of hallucinogenic or toxic side effects.

Scientists from UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Stanford have started a new animal study to see if this new drug can safely treat stress and anxiety. For the study, the researchers administered a dose of 10 mg / kg TBG to mice, exposed them to unpredictable mild stress (UMS), and then performed a series of behavioral and physiological tests.

This new study, recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, reports that a single dose of TBG “is effective at combating the harmful effects of stress.” This experimental medicine quickly reversed many of the negative effects of stress, including anxiety, cognitive inflexibility, and decreased sensory processing.

“It was very surprising that a single, low-dose treatment had such dramatic effects in a day,” co-author Yi Zuo, professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz, said in a statement. “Amazingly, TBG reversed all the effects of stress … I couldn’t believe it even when I saw the first data.”

The study’s authors hope that Tabernanthalog can be developed into a new drug that offers the health benefits of ibogaine without posing the same health risks to the heart. The study notes that the mice did not appear to trip after being given TBG, but cautioned that “only human clinical trials can ultimately confirm that it is not hallucinogenic”.

The study goes on to explain that “persistent stress can overwhelm the capacity of the adaptive mechanisms”, overwhelm the brain’s ability to process information and “make the individual susceptible to illnesses, particularly mental illnesses”. Animal studies have found that chronic stress and depression can reduce the size and strength of dendritic thorns, small protrusions on nerve cells that help transfer data between neurons.

The researchers found that dendritic thorns in the rodents’ brains began to grow again within 24 hours of ingesting a dose of TBG. The authors explain that “the newly formed spines partially compensate for the spines lost during the EMS,” which enables the formation of new synapses and the reorganization of neural circuits.

Just last week, a team of Yale University researchers published a study that reported that psilocybin may also promote dendritic thorn regrowth, and other studies have found that ketamine has similar restorative effects on those thorns. This exciting new area of ​​research suggests that different psychedelics can have similar therapeutic effects by promoting neural growth and increasing neuroplasticity.