Effect of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) on Neurobehavioral Functions: Systematic review and Meta analysis

Abstract Background: Khat (Catha edulis forks, family: celastraceae) is a plant grown in East-Africa and the south west of the Arabian Peninsula. People uses for its pleasant stimulant effect of physical activity, consciousness, motor and mental functions as well as its anti-fatigue action. Although there is a rich body of research available regarding the effect of acute and chronic khat dosing in animal models, research on the behavioral and cognitive effects of khat in human subjects is not extensive and several of the available studies have been done only in the context of observational and single-case studies. Objective: To determine the level of evidence of toxicity of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) on Neurobehavioral Functions. Methods: Key words representing major broad subject areas including: Khat, learning memory, working memory, cognitive flexibility, motor activities and other psychological disorders were used to search in the electronic databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and Cross sectional study investigating the effect of khat on neurobehavioral were included. Studies involving human participants reporting behavioral change and the experimental animal models were included in the present systemic review. Meta analysis was conducted to examine the effect of khat on neurobehavioral functions. Quality assessment was performed using the PEDro scale with subsequent data extraction. Result: Out of the 260 studies, eight studies met inclusion criteria for this review. Of these, four studies were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis results suggested that there were significant difference between khat exposed and control group for the neurobehavioral changes. The Pedro score was 6, meeting the cut off score for high quality. Conclusion: Although a number of studies regarding the current topic is limited, there is the high quality of evidenced that khat (Catha edulis) induced neurobehavioral changes. Key words: Khat, learning memory, working memory, cognitive flexibility, motor activities, psychological disorders Introduction Khat (Catha edulis, family: Celastraceae) is a plant grown in East-Africa (mainly in Somalia, Kenya, Djibuti, Yemen and Ethiopia) and the south west of the Arabian Peninsula. In these countries the chewing of khat is very common; it is consumed as qat and kat in Yemen; chat in Ethiopia; miraa, kijiti, gomba, mbachu or veve in Kenya; and as mairungi in Ugand

Role of Melatonin in Cancer Treatment

Abstract Melatonin is a methoxyindole synthesized and secreted principally by the pineal gland at night under normal environmental conditions. The endogenous rhythm of secretion is generated by the suprachiasmatic nuclei and entrained to the light/dark cycle. The primary physiological function of melatonin, whose secretion adjusts tonight length, is to convey information concerning the daily cycle of light and darkness to body physiology. It is secreted during darkness and plays a key role in various physiological responses, including regulation of circadian rhythms, sleep homeostasis, retinal neuromodulation and vasomotor responses. Melatonin also enhances the antioxidant potential of the cell by stimulating the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase, and by augmenting glutathione levels. Melatonin plays a role in mammary cancer by down-regulating some of the pituitary and gonadal hormones that control mammary gland development and which are also responsible for the growth of hormone-dependent mammary tumors. Furthermore, melatonin could act directly on tumoral cells, as a naturally occurring antiestrogen, thereby influencing their proliferative rate. Key words: Melatonin; Mammary cancer; pineal gland; suprachiasmatic nuclei Introduction Melatonin is an indolic hormone mainly secreted by the pineal gland. Secondary sources are retina, gut, skin, platelets, bone marrow and probably other structures, whose systemic contribution is insignificant. This aspect and the fact that it lightens the frog skin by contracting melanophores led to the naming of this molecule as Melatoni

Prevalence of substance abuse among regular degree health science students in Sheba University College in Mekelle Town, Tigray - Ethiopia

Background: Substance abuse (SA) refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs. The most common substances which are usually abused are alcohol and tobacco. Herein, we assessed the prevalence of SA among regular degree health science students of the Sheba University College (SUC). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 1076 SUC students using self-administered structured questionnaire. The simple sampling technique was used to select students. Descriptive statistics, bivariate, and multivariate analysis were done. Results: The overall prevalence of “ever used substance” for at least one was 45.5%. The most commonly used drugs in descending order were alcohol (25.1%), cigarette (11.4%), and khat (9.2%). Male participants, urban setting, peer pressure, personal pleasure, and academic dissatisfaction and pocket money were highly associated with SA. Conclusion: This study showed a lower magnitude (45.6% ever use and 21% still using) of SA among students’ compared to other studies. Even if a considerable decrease in SA among study subjects, the creation of awareness and health education should be continued to fully combat the problem of abuse

High burden of neural tube defects in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: Hospital-based study.

INTRODUCTION:Neural tube defects are the major causes of fetal loss and considerable disabilities in infants. Currently, there is no significant research on the incidence of Neural tube defects in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. OBJECTIVE:To determine the incidence and clinical pattern of the Neural Tube Defects. METHODS:A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2016 to June 2017. All pregnancy outcomes were examined for any externally visible birth defects and neurological integrity by trained midwives under the supervision of senior obstetrics and gynecology and a neurosurgeon. Data were collected using a survey tool to collect maternal and newborn demographic data and a checklist developed to capture newborns with Neural Tube Defects. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The prevalence of NTDs was calculated per 10,000 births. RESULT:Out of the 14,903 births during the study period, a total of 195 infants were born afflicted with Neural Tube Defects. The burden of infants with anencephaly and spina bifida was 66.4 and 64.4 per 10, 000 births, respectively. The overall incidence rate of NTDs in this study was 131 per 10, 000 births of which 23% were liveborn and 77% were stillborn. The highest burden of Neural Tube Defects was observed in Adigrat Hospital from Eastern Zone of Tigray (174 per 10,000 births) and Lemlem Karl Hospital from Southern Zone of Tigray (304 per 10,000 births) compared to Kahsay Abera Hospital from Western Zone (72.8 per 10,000 births) and Sihul Hospital from North Western Zone of Tigray (69.8 per 10,000 births). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:Assuming that the non folic acid preventable rate should be 5 per 10,000 births, our prevalence rate is 131 per 10,000 births, and then we have a rate or an epidemic that is 26 times what it should be. This just emphasizes the urgency to implement effective programs to get all women of reproductive age to have adequate folic acid to prevent all of folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly, which would prevent 96% (125/130) of spina bifida and anencephaly in the Tigray Provence

Toxic effect of khat (Catha edulis) on memory: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: People use khat (Catha edulis) for its pleasant stimulant effect of physical activity, consciousness, motor, and mental functions. Although there are reports assessing the effect of khat on memory, there was no study based on formal systematic review and meta-analysis. Objective: We have therefore conducted this meta-analysis to determine the level of evidence for the effect of khat (C. edulis Forsk) on memory discrepancy. Methods: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Academic Search Complete, SPORTDiscus, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched to retrieve the papers for this review. Keywords utilized across database search were khat, cat, chat, long-term memory, short-term memory, memory deficit, randomized control trial, and cross-sectional survey. The search was limited to studies in humans and rodents; published in English language. Result: Finding of various studies included in our meta-analysis showed that the effect of acute, and subchronic exposure to khat showed that short-term memory appears to be affected depending on the duration of exposure. However, does not have any effect on long-term memory. Conclusion: Although a number of studies regarding the current topic are limited, the evidenced showed that khat (C. edulis) induced memory discrepancy