The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7351 p658
28 May 2005

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Depersonalising drug being assessed for possible value against addiction more
Women in the world of science more
Changes in the ecosystem more

Depersonalising drug being assessed for possible value against addiction

Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid derived from the root, stems and leaves of the African shrub iboga (Tabernanthe iboga), which is a member of the Apocynaceae. Indigenous people have employed iboga to assist the stalking of game, since in small doses it combats fatigue and enables them to remain motionless for up to two days without affecting their mental alertness. It is known to act as an antidepressant but may induce serious psychological disturbances and effects on the heart.

In Science for 15 April, Brian Vastag has discussed the possible value of ibogaine in treating drug addiction. It is banned in the US because it is neurotoxic at high doses and slows the heart. However, it is being studied for its potential in dealing with addiction, an effect that has been demonstrated in rodents. Also, it has been claimed that a clinic in Amsterdam that opened in 1980 has given the drug to more than 5,000 people.

A neuroscientist in Florida is launching a trial for safety and efficacy in individuals dependent on diamorphine. A number of patients given a single dose have reported feeling much improved for up to 90 days. Scores for both depression and drug cravings were improved.

There is a lack of agreement over how ibogaine works. It is known to inhibit reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin, among other actions. It also upsets serotonin and glutamate systems and causes hallucinations and feelings of depersonalisation. Not all takers experience visions. Ibogaine is converted by the liver into noribogaine which blocks opiate receptors that would otherwise respond to morphine or diamorphine. This dramatically suppresses withdrawal symptoms. The effects of ibogaine may last for up to three months, since it deposits in body fat and is slowly released. Once metabolised it may remain in the circulation for several weeks.

Unfortunately, ibogaine has many other effects in addition to slowing the heart. In large doses it destroys neurones in the cerebellum. Derivatives with more concentrated activity are being studied and in particular a formulation of the metabolite noribogaine, which may be antiaddictive without hallucinating.

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Women in the world of science

The 29 April issue of Science carries an editorial by Julia King of the engineering faculty at Imperial College, London, describing the improved status of women in the world of scientific endeavour. The president of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, has recently suggested that genetic differences between women and men may affect their approach to scientifically based activities. These have been held by some to explain the paucity of women in the elite ranks of science, engineering and technology at the moment. However, the available evidence, states King, is that any inherent gender differences are swamped by social and cultural factors rather than by genetic ones.

The failure to encourage more women to pursue scientifically based activities and to maintain their presence there requires serious attention. In the business world, it has been asserted, the best way to expand new markets and stimulate fresh ideas of business activity is a diverse workforce. In the UK there is a pressing need to encourage more women into this field of endeavour, and it has been predicted that by 2011 only one fifth of the workforce will be white, able-bodied men younger than 45, while 80 per cent of future employment growth will rely upon women. Support for female employees during career breaks is increasing, but diverse teams of workers have proved more difficult to manage than homogenous groups, showing higher absenteeism and turnover and greater problems of communication and social integration.

The Athena survey of more than 6,500 men and women in academia and research institutes in the UK has shown that differences associated with gender are more marked in academia than elsewhere in research organisations. Men are more likely to seek promotion, while nearly half the women feel disadvantaged in terms of salary and promotion and only 15 per cent of men recognise this as a problem for their female colleagues. Nevertheless, the situation has improved during the last 30 years, with better representation of women among university science students.

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Changes in the ecosystem

In the year 2000, the United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, commissioned a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and now the many academics and environmentalists all over the world have delivered an assessment of the situation.

A report in Chemistry World for May summarises the conclusions reached. The cycling of water, nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus has altered in the second half of the 20th century more rapidly than at any other time in recorded human history, a rather alarming situation to contemplate.

Measures adopted to convert methods of crop production have meant that less cropland has been derived from the world’s natural ecosystems. But intensification of the struggle to produce food has increased pressure on inland water systems, reduced biodiversity in landscapes that have been converted, and resulted in the production and distribution of chemical fertilisers. In the process, natural biogeochemical cycles have become significantly modified.

In the important carbon cycle there has been a reversal over the past 50 years. In the 19th century terrestrial ecosystems were a source of carbon dioxide, whereas by the middle of the 20th century they had become a consumer of it. The main reasons for increased consumption of carbon dioxide recently are reafforestation and better forest management, changed agricultural practices and the increased deposition of nitrogen compounds, which act as fertilisers. The total amount of reactive nitrogen produced by human industry has increased ninefold between 1890 and 1990, most of it derived from increased use of fertilisers in farming. In the past 20 years more than half the total nitrogen production since 1913 has been used. Meanwhile, the use of phosphorus-based fertilisers and the consequent accumulation of phosphorus in agricultural soils has increased threefold between 1960 and 1990. Such changes in the ecosystem mean that recovery of the planet’s original state may take centuries or be impossible.

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