Noribogaine reduces nicotine self-administration in rats

Noribogaine, a polypharmacological drug with activities at opioid receptors, ionotropic nicotinic receptors, and serotonin reuptake transporters, has been investigated for treatment of substance abuse-related disorders. Smoking cessation has major benefits for both individuals and society, therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of noribogaine for use as a treatment for nicotine dependence. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer nicotine intravenous. After initial food pellet training, followed by 26 sessions of nicotine self-administration training, the rats were administered noribogaine (12.5, 25 or 50 mg/kg orally), noribogaine vehicle, varenicline or saline using a within-subject design with a Latin square test schedule. Noribogaine dose-dependently decreased nicotine self-administration by up to 64% of saline-treated rats’ levels and was equi-effective to 1.7 mg/kg intraperitoneal varenicline. Noribogaine was less efficient at reducing food pellets self-administration than at nicotine self-administration, inhibiting the nondrug reinforcing effects of palatable pellets by 23% at the highest dose. These results suggest that noribogaine dose-dependently attenuates drug-taking behavior for nicotine, attenuates the reinforcing effects of nicotine and is comparable to varenicline power in that regard. The findings from the present study hold promise for a new therapy to aid smoking cessation

Medical Cannabis

The history of Cannabis goes along that of humankind, as speculated based on geographical and evolutionary models together with historic data collected to date. Its medical use is several thousand years old, as attested both by archeobotanical evidence of Cannabis remains and written records found in ancient texts from the sacred Vedic foundational texts of Ayurvedic medicine (about 800 before current era [BCE]) to the first known Pharmacopoea, the Chinese "Shen Nung Pen Ts'ao Ching" (1 century BCE). In this paper, we retrace the history of Cannabis traveling through the key stages of its diffusion among the most important ancient cultures up to our days, when we are facing a renaissance of its medical employment. We report through the centuries evidence of its use in numerous pathologic conditions especially for its anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and anticonvulsing properties that support the requirement to direct our present research efforts into the definitive understanding of its efficacy

Ayahuasca e redução do uso abusivo de psicoativos: eficácia terapêutica?

Trata-se de uma avaliação do possível papel do uso da ayahuasca, em contexto religioso, como auxiliar na redução do consumo abusivo de psicoativos, a partir de uma pesquisa de estudo de caso. Foi realizada uma entrevista aberta com uma usuária regular de cocaína, nicotina e álcool que abandonou este comportamento após entrar em contato com a ayahuasca num contexto ritualizado. O caso foi analisado à luz da comparação deste com a literatura existente sobre o assunto. Foi traçada uma relação entre o início do uso da ayahuasca e o abandono do uso de cocaína, nicotina e álcool pela entrevistada, a partir da avaliação das representações simbólicas e das descrições de suas primeiras experiências com a bebida