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Updated: May 28, 2026

Using Enzyme-based Biosensors to Measure Tonic and Phasic Glutamate in Alzheimer's Mouse Models
Published on: May 3, 2017
Ibogaine alters synaptosomal and glial glutamate release and uptake
M B Leal1, T Emanuelli, L D Porciúncula
1Curso de Pós Graduação em Ciências Biológicas-Bioquímica, ICBS, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Abstract:
Ibogaine has aroused expectations as a potentially innovative medication for drug addiction. It has been proposed that antagonism of the NMDA receptor by ibogaine may be one of the mechanisms underlying its antiaddictive properties; glutamate has also been implicated in ibogaine-induced neurotoxicity. We here report the effects of ibogaine on [3H]glutamate release and uptake in cortical and cerebellar synaptosomes, as well as in cortical astrocyte cultures, from mice and rats. Ibogaine (2-1000 microM) had no effects on glutamate uptake or release by rat synaptosomes. However, ibogaine (500-1000 microM) significantly inhibited the glutamate uptake and stimulated the release of glutamate by cortical (but not cerebellar) synaptosomes of mice. In addition, ibogaine (1000 microM) nearly abolished glutamate uptake by cortical astrocyte cultures from rats and mice. The data provide direct evidence of glutamate involvement in ibogaine-induced neurotoxicity.
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