Scientists have developed two new drug candidates for potentially treating addiction and depression, modeled on the pharmacology of a traditional African psychedelic plant medicine called ibogaine. At very low doses, these new compounds were able to blunt symptoms of both conditions in mice.The findings, published on May 2 in Cell, took inspiration from ibogaine's impact on the serotonin transporter (SERT), which is also the target of SSRI antidepressants like fluoxetine (Prozac). A team of scientists from UCSF, Yale and Duke universities virtually screened 200 million molecular structures to find ones that blocked SERT in the same way as ibogaine.
Addiction AND depression? Could these new pharmaceuticals spell the end of rDrama?
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Ibogaine!!! There was a lolcow/terrorist in Portland (well, Beaverton) who was obsessed with this stuff. He tried but failed to blow himself up. I wrote a good effortpost about him.
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