Project Paper on: the Toxicological Effect of Catha Edulis Forsk (Khat) on the Histology and Function of Liver.
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Date
2014-07
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
In this project paper databases such as Pubmed, Medline, Hinary and Google search, were systematically searched for literature on the different aspects of Catha edulis (Khat) to synthesis, review, and present various research publication on the toxicological effect of khat consumption on the histology and function of liver. Catha edulis (Khat) is a large green shrub that grows at high altitude in the region extending from eastern to Southern Africa, as well as on the Arabian Peninsula; mainly in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Yemen and Madagascar. It is known by a variety of names such as, “chat” in Ethiopia, “qat” in Yemen, “mirra” in Kenya and “Khat” in English. The euphoric effects have been demonstrated to arise from the main constituent, (-)-S cathinone. Most of the findings revealed that there is significant result on toxicological effect of Khat consumption on histology and function of liver. This happens as the exposure of Catha edulis in treated liver animal goes from acute to chronic administration starting from the dose of 10% of extracted Catha edulis. In general the project paper showed that Khat treated animals including khat users have elevated activities of hepatic enzymes like Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and bilirubin were as albumin level was decreased as compare to the control group. In addition to this the histo-pathological pictures of the khat treated liver also showed that degenerative alterations include disorganization of hepatic cords, cytoplasmic vacuolization of hepatocytes and invasion of infiltrative inflammatory cells. These result together indicating leakage into extracellular fluid as a result of toxic damage of hepatic tissue by the extract and so it leads to death of the experimental animals including Khat user.
Keywords: ALP, ALT, AST, Albumin, Bilirubin, Catha edulis, , Cathinone, Khat, Kupffer cells
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ALP, ALT, AST, Albumin, Bilirubin, Catha edulis, , Cathinone, Khat, Kupffer cells