Does khat chewing increases the risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection by macrophage immune modulation?

Abstract Drug abuse is a serious problem associated with different pathological outcomes including modulating the immune system. Drug abuse is rising in Saudi Arabia and so as TB, a disease of worldwide significance, caused by immunological modulation in the host system. Khat chewing is a common pra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical hypotheses 2014-06, Vol.82 (6), p.667-669
Main Authors: Alvi, Ayesha, Rizwan, Mohammed, AL Sunosi, Rashad, Jerah, Ahmed Bin Ali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkaloids - adverse effects
Alkaloids - analysis
Catha - chemistry
Disease Susceptibility - metabolism
Humans
Immunomodulation - drug effects
Internal Medicine
Mastication - physiology
Models, Biological
Mycobacterium smegmatis - metabolism
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Saudi Arabia
Substance-Related Disorders
Tuberculosis - etiology
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Summary:Abstract Drug abuse is a serious problem associated with different pathological outcomes including modulating the immune system. Drug abuse is rising in Saudi Arabia and so as TB, a disease of worldwide significance, caused by immunological modulation in the host system. Khat chewing is a common practice in Arabian Peninsula which is now gaining momentum in other parts of the world. It is considered as an addiction. It has been associated with different adverse outcomes such as periodontitis, oral leukoplakia and oral cancer and also has shown to promote apoptotic cell death through cysteine proteases. The active ingredient of khat, cathinone is shown to have immunomodulatory effect. In principle, this leads to enhanced susceptibility to various infections. The present study is designed to delineate the mechanism of immunomodulation produced by khat/cathinone in human/mouse macrophage. Further, this activity will be evaluated both in vivo and in vitro in response to infection with Mycobacterium smegmatis to get an insight if there exists a co relation between the Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and khat chewing.
ISSN:0306-9877
1532-2777
DOI:10.1016/j.mehy.2014.02.026