UC Irvine Ibogaine Study Receives EF Research Grant

The Etheridge Foundation is excited to announce a $50,000 grant to the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine) in support of Dr. Richard Harris’s study, Central Neural Actions of Ibogaine in Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).

Sponsored by the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute and the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care at UC Irvine's School of Medicine, this groundbreaking investigation is a longitudinal, observational, mechanistic neuroimaging study is investigating brain and behavioral changes associated with ibogaine treatment in individuals with OUD. 

Dr. Harris’s research team at UC Irvine has partnered with an ibogaine clinic in northern Mexico, making use of the geographic proximity to allow for data collection.

While ibogaine treatment in the US is currently prohibited, data collection will take place at UC Irvine prior to and after participants’ treatment, as an observational study, working around the current restrictions.

The investigation will use functional and neurochemical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brains of 20 OUD patients. Prior to, one week, and one month following ibogaine treatment, individuals will have functional and neurochemical MRI performed, as well as collection of psychometric data.

To date there is only a single case report of the action of ibogaine treatment in humans using brain magnetic resonance imaging, which investigated two multiple sclerosis patients. 

There are no other MRI studies of the action of ibogaine on the central nervous system in humans, thus underscoring our lack of understanding of the action of this unique medicine.  

Brain neuroimaging studies in OUD have shown that this condition involves increased activation in particular parts of the brain. To explore the effects of centrally acting treatments in OUD, these outcomes have been adapted to a pilot study using ibogaine.  

This information will address a critical gap in the scientific knowledge of how ibogaine may safely improve symptoms of OUD and reduce addiction to opiates.  

The Etheridge Foundation is hopeful that this increased understanding will help advance the acceptance of ibogaine treatment into US health care, ultimately making a significant impact on how opioid addiction can be treated.