Presenter

Roman Paskulin

Iboga – maturation and healthy aging

Introduction
Although medicinal plant Tabernanthe iboga is traditionally recognized as an initiation sacrament in the rite of passage and its alkaloid ibogaine as an anti-addiction remedy in the West, less is known about its health preserving properties. Since the oxidative stress is the major cause of degenerative diseases and aging, ibogaine’s influence on physiological antioxidative defense system was investigated.

Methods
The study was conducted ex vivo on human erythrocytes. The whole blood was treated with ibogaine, centrifuged and separated erythrocytes were hemolysed. Antioxidant enzyme activities were measured in lysate, while their structure integrity was checked by electrophoresis.

Results
After treatment with ibogaine in rising concentrations, the dose dependant stimulation of some enzymes of antioxidant system was discovered. Additionally, ibogaine seem to stabilize and protect one of them against damage caused by its own reactive product. Without intrinsic antioxidant properties, commonly seen in plant products, ibogaine exerts pro-antioxidant effects on physiological defense systems.

Conclusions
Together with the previous results regarding ibogaine’s effects on bioenergetics present results further fulfill and complement the mosaic of house-keeping metabolism with closely related field of redox biochemistry. Besides being a maturation inducer, ibogaine as an adaptogene protects against cellular degeneration and aging.

Possible Derived Lines of Research
Additional attention should be paid in direction of usefulness of ibogaine at alcoholism as an energy metabolism and neurodegenerative disorder.