Toxicity and Safety of Khat (Catha edulis) Consumption during Pregnancy using Olive Baboons (Papio anubis) as Experimental Models: A Prospective Randomised Study

Abstract

Background: The chewing of khat leaves (Catha edulis Forsk) is widely practiced in East Africa and parts of the Middle East, where it forms a deep-rooted social and cultural function. Consumption of Khat is common among men but recently it has extended to women. Biochemical and toxicological effects of Khat on pregnancy and fetal development in lower animals has been noted. Studies on the effect of khat consumption has focused on men thus no data is available on women and especially during pregnancy. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of khat on liver and kidney functions during pregnancy using olive baboons as experimental models. Methods: Six pregnant olive baboons were randomly assigned into khat treatment group (n=3) that received 100mls of crude khat at a dose of 5 g/kg body weight/week for 8 weeks and the control group (n=3) received normal saline during the second trimester. Blood pressure, temperature and weight changes were measured weekly. Blood was collected to assay for liver and kidney function tests and liver and kidney tissues collected during necropsy for histopathological examinations. Results: The levels of aminotransferases, urea and creatinine in the khat treated group were significantly elevated compared to those in the control group. There was a decrease of body weight in the dams, fetal birth weight and levels of albumin and sodium in treatment group compared to those in the control group. Kidney and liver tissues of the baboons and their fetuses treated with khat showed necrosis, periportal fibrosis with focal degenerative changes, glomerular degeneration and infiltration with lymphocytes. Blood pressure was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: The findings show that crude khat may damage the liver and kidneys and modulate the levels of liver enzymes, urea, creatinine and electrolytes essential for liver and kidney functions. Khat is not safe and its use during pregnancy should be discouraged.

Catha edulis Forsk Mediates Embryotoxic Effects in Rats: An Experimental Study

“…Such treatment led to a highly significant increase in the number of the resorbed embryos compared to the control as well as a highly significant difference in the number of live embryos between the embryos of the control and Khat treated mothers. Several studies have shown that Khat extract has a profound effect on cell proliferation and may be responsible for chromosomal and embryonic abnormalities (Islam et al; Kassie et al, 2001;Masood & Al-Mansoob, 2015;Muema et al, 2016;Nakajima et al, 2017). A study on pregnancy outcome on women who chewed Khat during pregnancy showed a significant increase in low-birth-weight full-term infants among the offspring in comparison to women who were non-chewers during pregnancy (Eriksson et al).…”