Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


Print Feedback Export to File
475922 
Journal Article 
Khat chewing from the pharmacological point of view: An update 
Graziani, M; Milella, MS; Nencini, P 
2008 
1 
Substance Use and Misuse
ISSN: 1082-6084
EISSN: 1532-2491 
43 
6 
762-783 
English 
Khat chewing is deeply rooted in the every day life of people living in the Horn of Africa and in South Arabia, where Catha edulis is endemic. Considered little more than an exotic habit producing just mild pharmacological effects, systematic investigations on its active principles have instead lead to the isolation and chemical characterization of cathinone, a compound structurally related to amphetamine. Three decades of intense experimental and clinical research on khat have depicted a consistently clear picture of its pharmacological and toxicological effects. 
cathinone; khat chewing; catha-edulis forsk; discriminative stimulus properties; acute; myocardial-infarction; induced paranoid psychosis; d-amphetamine; dl-cathinone; active principle; alkaloid (-)cathinone; medical aspects; blood-pressure