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Published on: December 5, 2013
Anxiolytic-like effects of noribogaine in zebrafish
Allan V Kalueff1, Aleksandra Kaluyeva2, Emeline L Maillet3
1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing 400700, China; ZENEREI Research Center, 309 Palmer Court, Slidell, LA 70458, USA; The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium (ZNRC), Slidell 70458, LA, USA; Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia; Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, 620020, Russia.
Abstract:
Noribogaine is the main psychoactive metabolite of the hallucinogenic drug ibogaine, and is a particularly interesting compound potentially useful to treat dependence and various psychiatric disorders. Here, we report the effects of noribogaine on anxiety and locomotion in zebrafish (Danio rerio), a new promising model organism in neurobehavioral and psychopharmacological research. Adult zebrafish were subjected to the 5min novel tank test (NTT) following an acute, 20-min drug immersion in 1, 5 and 10mg/L noribogaine. Overall, noribogaine produced robust anxiolytic-like behavior in zebrafish (increasing the time spent and transitions to the top half compartment and reducing freezing bouts) without overt effects on fish locomotion. Taken together, these results indicate that noribogaine modulates the components of the acute stress response related to emotionality and anxiety behaviors, implicating this drug as a potentially useful non-sedative anxiolytic agent.
