RESEARCH ARTICLE Effect of chronic khat (Cat

Yemen use khat for treatment of obesity, suppression of appetite and to alleviate their headaches by inhaling the Ketema et al. BMC Infectious Diseases (2015) 15:170 DOI 10.1186/s12879-015-0911-2idly absorbed after oral administration, and it reaches peakJimma, Ethiopia Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleing is spreading to Europe, North America, Australia and Canada [2-4]. Besides its stimulating role, the processed leaves and roots of the plant are used for treatment of various ailments including influenza, cough, asthma, gon-orrhea, vomiting and headache [1,5]. In addition, some fumes of burning khat leaves [8]. Khat contains compounds such as alkaloids, terpe-noids, flavonoids, sterols, glycosides, tannins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals [9]. However, the stimulat-ing effect of khat is mainly associated with its alkaloids content, cathinone and to a lesser extent cathine and nor-ephedrine [10]. Cathinone is an intermediate metabolite in the biosynthesis of cathine which is found mainly in young fresh leaves of khat plant [10]. Khat, when chewed, is rap