Fatal intoxication after taking iboga: GC-MS/MS determination of ibogaine and ibogamine in iboga roots and post-mortem material

  • Mazoyer C.
  • Carlier J.
  • Peoc'H M.
  • Lemeur C.
  • Boucher A.
  • Bevalot F.
  • Guitton J.
  • Gaillard Y.
Publication date
January 2012

Abstract

Objective: Tabernanthe iboga, or iboga, is a shrub native to equatorial Africa. Its root is commonly taken as a stimulant and hallucinogen. Ibogaine, the principal alcaloid in the plant, is the source of its psychotropic effects. We report the case of a 27-year-old man with a long history of drug addiction who was found dead in 2006, 12 hours after ingesting powdered iboga root as part of a detoxification programme. Ibogaine and ibogamine were identified and quantified in the powder ingested and in the body fluid samples taken at the scene of death and during the autopsy. Methods: Analysis was carried out using GC-MS/MS (electron impact - ion trap) after performing liquid-liquid extraction on the body fluids. Results: The concentrations mea...

Extracted data

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