Interactions between ibogaine and cocaine in rats: in vivo microdialysis and motor behavior.

To investigate a possible basis for the proposed anti-addictive property of ibogaine, the effects of an ibogaine (40 mg/kg i.p.) pretreatment on in vivo neurochemical and motor effects induced by cocaine (20 mg/kg i.p.) were studied. Ibogaine, administered 19 h earlier, potentiated the increase in extracellular dopamine levels in striatum and nucleus accumbens as well as the stimulated motor activity induced by cocaine. Although high doses of cocaine can become aversive by producing an anxiogenic reaction, it is unknown whether the potentiation of cocaine's effects by ibogaine would also cause aversion and lead to a decrease in cocaine addiction.