Historique
Article de Périodique
Severe, acute liver injury and khat leaves : (Letter to the Editor) (2010)
Auteur(s) :
CHAPMAN, M. H. ;
KAJIHARA, M. ;
BORGES, G. ;
O'BEIRNE, J. ;
PATCH, D. ;
DHILLON, A. P. ;
CROZIER, A. ;
MORGAN, M. Y.
Année :
2010
Page(s) :
1642-1644
Langue(s) :
Anglais
Refs biblio. :
5
Domaine :
Autres substances / Other substances
Discipline :
PAT (Pathologie organique / Organic pathology)
Résumé :
The chewing of khat leaves (Catha edulis) is a widespread recreational custom in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The plant contains the alkaloids cathine and cathinone, which have amphetamine-like properties and produce a variety of pleasurable effects. Khat is banned in the United States, but large quantities are nonetheless exported to North America from the United Kingdom, where it is freely available and used widely by immigrant populations. The detrimental personal and social effects of khat are well recognized. Both psychiatric illness and cardiovascular disease have been recorded. We report the results of our observations of six patients whose use of khat was associated with severe, acute hepatitis that resulted in death or liver transplantation. The patients presented over a 5-year period, and their cases were neither geographically nor temporally related. [Extract]
Affiliation :
University College London Medical School, London, United Kingdom