United States Patent
US Patent 5629307: Use of ibogaine in reducing excitotoxic brain…
US 5629307 · granted 1997-05-13
Abstract
This invention discloses that ibogaine, a plant derivative, can be used as a safe NMDA antagonist at relatively high dosages (including dosages high enough to cause hallucinations), to reduce or prevent excitotoxic brain damage due to stroke, cardiac arrest, trauma or other forms of neuronal injury or degeneration, without causing the neurotoxic side effects caused by other NMDA antagonist drugs. The relative safety of ibogaine is due to antagonist activity at neuronal sigma receptors, which had not been known prior to discovery by the Applicant. This invention also discloses that ibogaine also can be administered in combination with (1) drugs that suppress activity at muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, or (2) drugs which suppress activity at the kainic acid subclass of glutamate receptors, to reduce or avoid the hallucinatory effects of ibogaine and provide a higher level of neuroprotective activity.
| Patent Number | 5629307 |
|---|---|
| Title | Use of ibogaine in reducing excitotoxic brain damage |
| Filed | 1995-03-06 |
| Granted | 1997-05-13 |
| Inventor(s) | Olney; John W. |
| Number of Claims | 11 |
Abstract
This invention discloses that ibogaine, a plant derivative, can be used as a safe NMDA antagonist at relatively high dosages (including dosages high enough to cause hallucinations), to reduce or prevent excitotoxic brain damage due to stroke, cardiac arrest, trauma or other forms of neuronal injury or degeneration, without causing the neurotoxic side effects caused by other NMDA antagonist drugs. The relative safety of ibogaine is due to antagonist activity at neuronal sigma receptors, which had not been known prior to discovery by the Applicant. This invention also discloses that ibogaine also can be administered in combination with (1) drugs that suppress activity at muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, or (2) drugs which suppress activity at the kainic acid subclass of glutamate receptors, to reduce or avoid the hallucinatory effects of ibogaine and provide a higher level of neuroprotective activity.
Claim 1
A method for treating patients to reduce excitotoxic neuronal damage, comprising the step of administering, to a mammalian patient suffering or at risk of excitotoxic neuronal damage,a pharmacologically acceptable formulation containing at least one neuroprotective drug selected from the group consisting of ibogaine, ibogamine, tabernanthin, and pharmaceutically acceptable isomers, analogs, and salts thereof which penetrate mammalianblood-brain barriers, at a dosage which is therapeutically effective in suppressing glutamate-mediated excitatory activity at NMDA receptors without causing pathologic side effects in cerebrocortical neurons.
Claims
11 totalA method for treating patients to reduce excitotoxic neuronal damage, comprising the step of administering, to a mammalian patient suffering or at risk of excitotoxic neuronal damage,a pharmacologically acceptable formulation containing at least one neuroprotective drug selected from the group consisting of ibogaine, ibogamine, tabernanthin, and pharmaceutically acceptable isomers, analogs, and salts thereof which penetrate mammalianblood-brain barriers, at a dosage which is therapeutically effective in suppressing glutamate-mediated excitatory activity at NMDA receptors without causing pathologic side effects in cerebrocortical neurons.