Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) is a flowering evergreen plant in Eastern Africa and Southwestern Arabia. Consumption of Khat has been associated with the development of oral cancer, but its mechanism of action on the molecular level remains unclear. The present study demonstrated the cytotoxic effect of khat extracts on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Trypan blue exclusion assays, flow...

BACKGROUND A new trend among users of new psychoactive substances' the consumption of "herbal highs": plant parts containing psychoactive substances. Most of the substances extracted from herbs, in old centuries were at the centre of religious ceremonies of ancient civilizations. Currently, these herbal products are mainly sold by internet web sites and easily obtained since some of them have n...

Catha edulis, the fresh leaves of which (i.e., khat) are used for their central stimulant actions, has been known for many hundreds of years. S(-)Cathinone was identified as a centrally-active khat constituents > 30 years ago. Although khat use was a problem long localized to certain Middle Eastern and certain Eastern African nations, ‘synthetic cathinones’(synthetic analogs of cathinone) repre...

Khat (Catha Edulis Forskal) is widely cultivated in Yemen and East of Africa. The habit of chewing tender leaves and twigs of khat is deep-rooted in Yemen. Our study investigates the chronic khat chewing and smoking effect on oral mucosa. The sample (n=79) consists of two main groups, khat chewers (n=54) and control groups (n=25). Khat chewers group is divided into 4 subgroups according to dura...

Fresh leaves from khat trees (Catha edulis Celestrasae) are chewed daily by over 20 million people in Yemen and East African countries. Chewing khat (qat) is a popular social habit which has spread to Yemeni, Somali or East African communities in the USA and UK. The pleasure derived from khat chewing is attributed to the euphoric actions of S-(−)cathinone, a sympathomimetic amine with propertie...

AIM OF THE STUDY This article looks at the history of the expansion of khat consumption from the traditional chew regions to Western countries and assesses the implication of possible international control for its use and trade in the Horn of Africa. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten months of initial field work in Ethiopia, three follow up field work, archival work in Ethiopia and Europe, as well as...