Abstract
BackgroundChewing fresh leaves of the khat plant (Catha edulis forsk) is a deep rooted and widespread habit in East Africa and the Middle East. Although a body of knowledge exists about the adverse effects of khat on health, data are sparse with regard to the consequences of long-term khat chewing in resulting schizophrenic like symptoms.MethodsA crude extract of khat at different doses (100 mg/kg (K (khat)100), 200 mg/kg (K200) and 400 mg/kg (K400)) were administered for experimental group of mice whereas standard (ketamine (KT) 10 mg/kg- positive controls (KT10)) and vehicle (2 % v/v Tween-80 in distilled water – negative control groups (CON)) were administered for control groups of mice daily for two months to evaluate subchronic oral administration of crude khat extract to induce schizophrenic-like symptoms in mice. Mice were subjected to a battery of behavioural tests and parameters like locomotor activity, total time spent in social interaction and level of cognition among different groups of mice were measured and analyzed.ResultsKhat at all doses significantly increased (p < 0.001) the mean locomotor activity score of mice compared to CON. However, the mean locomotor activity score of mice treated with khat was significantly lower (p < 0.001) compared to the mean locomotor activity score of KT10 mice (p < 0.001).The mean total time score (in seconds) spent in social interaction, mean total time score (in seconds) spent in sniffing and following the partner was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in CON groups of mice compared to khat and ketamine treated groups. Moreover, in spatial memory task, the mean latency score (in seconds) to find the platform of khat and ketamine treated mice was significantly higher (p < 0.05) when compared to CON.ConclusionsSubchronic oral administration of khat showed an enhanced locomotor activity, reduced social interaction and impaired cognitive function, which demonstrated that long-term use of khat is associated with schizophernic-like symptoms.
Highlights
Chewing fresh leaves of the khat plant (Catha edulis forsk) is a deep rooted and widespread habit in East Africa and the Middle East
analysis of variance (ANOVA) test indicated that there was a significant difference in the mean locomotor activity scores of control groups (CON and KT10) and khat treated groups of mice (K100, K200 and K400) (F (4, 25) =136.17, p < 0.001) (Fig. 1)
There was a significant effect for days, Wilks’ Lambda = 0.58, F (4, 22) = 3.94, p = 0.015, multivariate partial squared = 0.42. This result suggest that the mean locomotor activity score of khat treated and ketamine groups of mice had significant effect for days
Summary
Chewing fresh leaves of the khat plant (Catha edulis forsk) is a deep rooted and widespread habit in East Africa and the Middle East. Since no biological marker for schizophernia has yet been found, Chewing the fresh leaves and shoots of the ever green plant khat (Catha edulis) dates back several centuries in eastern and southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula [5]. It is estimated that 20 million people worldwide chew khat regularly to enjoy its psychostimulant effects [6]. Studies have shown that neurocognitive impairments [5], euphoria, excitability, anxiety, and insomnia [7, 8], are some of central nervous system effects of khat chewing. Khat chewing can induce psychological dependency [5, 9, 10]. Amphetamine and some of its derivatives have been shown to induce psychotic symptoms in experimental settings in humans [16, 17] and animals [18] and have been known to exacerbate psychotic states in psychiatric patients [19, 20]
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