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Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats

The leaves of khat (Catha edulis ) are found to have stimulating and pleasurable effect and are chewed habitually by people of East Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Due to various toxic and psychostimulative effect of khat the present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of intragastric khat a...

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Main Authors: M. Al-Qirim, Tariq, Shahwan, Moyad, R. Zaidi, Kashif, Ahmed, Qamar Uddin, Banu, Naheed
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Ireland Ltd 2002
Subjects:
R Medicine (General)
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/40990/1/Effect_of_khat%2C_its_constituents_and_restraint_stress_on_free_radical.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/40990/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874102002519
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spelling my.iium.irep.409902015-03-11T01:18:27Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/40990/ Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats M. Al-Qirim, Tariq Shahwan, Moyad R. Zaidi, Kashif Ahmed, Qamar Uddin Banu, Naheed R Medicine (General) The leaves of khat (Catha edulis ) are found to have stimulating and pleasurable effect and are chewed habitually by people of East Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Due to various toxic and psychostimulative effect of khat the present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of intragastric khat alone or its major constituents flavonoids/alkaloids administration and before and after 4 h of immobilization stress in terms of alteration of free radical scavenging/metabolizing enzymes, uric acid and glucose in rats. Oral khat, alkaloid administration or 4 h restraint stress resulted in the decrease of the circulating levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-S-transferase and glucose with enhanced uric acid concentrations as compared with control rats. Oral treatment with flavonoid fraction of khat was found to enhance the activities of GST and catalase but showed no effect on SOD while the level of glucose was decreased and uric acid increased. The levels of these biochemical parameters were more altered in post stress khat/ alkaloid treated rats than pre stress khat/alkaloid treated rats. The alteration in the levels of SOD, GST, catalase and uric acid in the pre stress khat treated rats were comparable with that of khat alone, except the level of glucose which was further decreased in pre stress khat treated rats. The flavonoid fraction of khat reduced the stress induced oxidative stress in terms of above mentioned biochemical parameters. The present study suggests that khat alone or khat/alkaloid consumption preceding stress may significantly decrease the levels of free radical metabolizing/scavenging enzymes and glucose leading to enhanced free radical concentration and toxicity of khat, which could be due to its alkaloid fraction as flavonoids were found to show antioxidant properties for oxidative stress generated during restraint stress. Elsevier Ireland Ltd 2002-12 Article REM application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/40990/1/Effect_of_khat%2C_its_constituents_and_restraint_stress_on_free_radical.pdf M. Al-Qirim, Tariq and Shahwan, Moyad and R. Zaidi, Kashif and Ahmed, Qamar Uddin and Banu, Naheed (2002) Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 83 (3). pp. 245-250. ISSN 0378-8741 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874102002519 10.1016/S0378-8741(02)00251-9
institution Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia
building IIUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider International Islamic University Malaysia
content_source IIUM Repository (IREP)
url_provider http://irep.iium.edu.my/
language English
topic R Medicine (General)
spellingShingle R Medicine (General)
M. Al-Qirim, Tariq
Shahwan, Moyad
R. Zaidi, Kashif
Ahmed, Qamar Uddin
Banu, Naheed
Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
description The leaves of khat (Catha edulis ) are found to have stimulating and pleasurable effect and are chewed habitually by people of East Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Due to various toxic and psychostimulative effect of khat the present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of intragastric khat alone or its major constituents flavonoids/alkaloids administration and before and after 4 h of immobilization stress in terms of alteration of free radical scavenging/metabolizing enzymes, uric acid and glucose in rats. Oral khat, alkaloid administration or 4 h restraint stress resulted in the decrease of the circulating levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-S-transferase and glucose with enhanced uric acid concentrations as compared with control rats. Oral treatment with flavonoid fraction of khat was found to enhance the activities of GST and catalase but showed no effect on SOD while the level of glucose was decreased and uric acid increased. The levels of these biochemical parameters were more altered in post stress khat/ alkaloid treated rats than pre stress khat/alkaloid treated rats. The alteration in the levels of SOD, GST, catalase and uric acid in the pre stress khat treated rats were comparable with that of khat alone, except the level of glucose which was further decreased in pre stress khat treated rats. The flavonoid fraction of khat reduced the stress induced oxidative stress in terms of above mentioned biochemical parameters. The present study suggests that khat alone or khat/alkaloid consumption preceding stress may significantly decrease the levels of free radical metabolizing/scavenging enzymes and glucose leading to enhanced free radical concentration and toxicity of khat, which could be due to its alkaloid fraction as flavonoids were found to show antioxidant properties for oxidative stress generated during restraint stress.
format Article
author M. Al-Qirim, Tariq
Shahwan, Moyad
R. Zaidi, Kashif
Ahmed, Qamar Uddin
Banu, Naheed
author_facet M. Al-Qirim, Tariq
Shahwan, Moyad
R. Zaidi, Kashif
Ahmed, Qamar Uddin
Banu, Naheed
author_sort M. Al-Qirim, Tariq
title Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
title_short Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
title_full Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
title_fullStr Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
title_full_unstemmed Effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
title_sort effect of khat, its constituents and restraint stress on free radical metabolism of rats
publisher Elsevier Ireland Ltd
publishDate 2002
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/40990/1/Effect_of_khat%2C_its_constituents_and_restraint_stress_on_free_radical.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/40990/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874102002519
_version_ 1643611927555866624
score 13.211869

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