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Updated: May 30, 2026

High Content Screening Analysis to Evaluate the Toxicological Effects of Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents (HPHC)
Published on: May 10, 2016
Genotoxic effect of Catha edulis (khat) crude extract after sub-chronic administration in rats
Adel Al-Zubairi1, Patimah Ismail, Chong Pei Pei
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sana'a, Sana'a, Yemen.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic effects of a crude extract of khat (Catha edulis, Forsk) leaves in rats. Two groups were fed khat crude extract, 1000 and 2000mg/kg body weight, for 90 days and were compared with a control group. The alkaline (pH>13) version of comet assay was used in this study. However, no previous published work has been undertaken and showed the effect of khat on DNA migration in the comet assay. To compare the comet assay results with another genetic endpoint, blood samples were analyzed for chromosomal aberrations. These results showed no DNA damage detected using comet assay in both the khat treated groups, while the results of chromosomal aberrations assay showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in the 2000mg/kg body weight treated group compared to the control group.
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