Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Other amphetamine-like activities of the khatamines include the enhancement of electrically
induced constriction of rat and guinea pig vas deferens, potentiation of noradrenergic transmis-
sion, increased lipolysis, and sympathomimetic effects usually associated with amphetamine. The
phenylpentenylamine alkaloids also found occurring in khat leaves showed only weak effects on
dopamine release and therefore are considered unlikely to contribute to the stimulating properties
of khat leaves.
394
The flavonoid fraction of khat, when administered at a dose of 200 mg/kg orally,
produced significant anti-inflammatory activity against the carrageenan-induced paw edema and
cotton pellet granuloma.
395
An aqueous solution of the methanol extract of khat has been shown to
possess a likely mutagenicity on male germ cells following chronic oral administration to albino
mice.
396
The chloroform extract has been shown to exert cytotoxicity against a variety of cultured
mammalian cell lines, including KB, 1BR.3, and XP2bi, and the effect may be due to inhibition of
de novo RNA synthesis.
397
(-)-Cathinone has also shown a mitodepressive effect on the dividing
cells of
Allium cepa
root tips.
398
Another form of khat use is via a semisynthetic methyl derivative of cathinone called meth-
cathinone, an illicit drug also known as ephedrone. Its intoxication is difficult to diagnose and
cure properly for two reasons: (1) Target consumers are usually ''well-educated people'' aware of
the risks and precautionary measures, and (2) intoxication by cathinone derivatives of synthetic or
natural (derived from the khat) origin induce misleading symptoms.
399
Clinical Properties —
The effects of chewing khat are contained in recent reviews on the
subject.
385,400-402
The effects of the drug, which closely resemble those of amphetamine, include
sympathetic activation, anorexia, euphoria, increased intellectual efficiency, and alertness.
402
The
subjective effects reported by users of khat also include relief from fatigue, enhanced creativity,
hyperactivity, and mild analgesic activity. Khat chewing by pregnant women appears to be del-
eterious to the fetus. It has been reported that healthy full-term singletons, born after uneventful
pregnancies and deliveries, had a significantly lower birth weight when the mothers were khat chew-
ers.
403
Norpseudophedrine was found to be excreted in breast milk in several lactating women who
chewed khat leaves, and the compound was also detected in the urine of the breast-fed infants.
404
The effects of the “flower of paradise,” as khat was once called, are short lasting, and like coca,
the leaves have to be replenished several times in the day to maintain the state of euphoria. It has
been observed that after 2 h of consumption of khat, the initial gaiety and the loquacity brought
about by the reduction of social inhibition soon give way to tension, depressive tendencies and slug-
gishness, and logorrhea, which brings the khat-chewing session to an end, usually with the discus-
sions becoming animated with loud talk often unrelated to the subject under discussion.
Toxicity —
Khat chewing causes gastrointestinal disturbances. The high concentration of poly-
phenolic tannins in khat causes constipation, periodontal diseases, mucosal lesions, and increased
risk of esophageal cancer. The drug induces cardiac arrhythmias, and the cardiovascular response
to physical effort is exaggerated. Habitual use of the drug may change to a transient hypotensive
state on abstinence.
395
The mutagenicity of khat has been evaluated in animal studies, and it has been established
that the intravenous administration of khat induced nucleic acid synthesis in brain and liver and
produced abnormalities in bone marrow.
405
The drug therefore has possible carcinogenic and tera-
togenic properties. Habitual khat use causes spermatorrhea, which is sometimes accompanied
by testicular pain, and impairment of male sexual function, which may lead to impotence. Khat
consumption causes several adverse sympathomimetic effects, including mydriasis, dryness of the
mouth, and increases in respiratory and pulse rate. Chronic consumption has led to liver failure.
406
The habitual consumption of khat has been implicated in many socioeconomic problems of the
endemic regions. In Djibouti, where khat is used by 90% of the men and about 10% of the women,
the drug consumed up to a third of the earned wages. Within the family, the drug affects family
interaction, with the father becoming more irritable and quarrelsome while high on the drug or
silent and withdrawn when the effect has worn off. The drug has been identified as the causative
