We plan to establish a multidisciplinary research and training program focusing on khat, a psychostimulant plant widely used in Africa and the Middle East associated with significant neurobehavioral and health effects. We will use this exploratory/developmental grant to achieve two primary goals. The first is to develop collaborative relationships and provide needed capacity-building resources that will include a series of research training workshops, establishing an Institutional Review Board, conducting relevant training on ethical standards of research, and organizing semi-annual meetings to develop future programmatic research. The second goal is to complete preliminary research to determine cognitive, affective, and biobehavioral consequences of long-term khat use. Khat users and nonusers will be compared on their performance on tests of response inhibition, attention, concentration, memory, and hormonal and cardiovascular responses to acute stress. We will include two samples of khat users, those who use khat alone and those who use khat and tobacco together. The purpose will be to examine the influence of the concurrent use of both substances. The program will take advantage of a unique population and setting by conducting this work in Yemen. The design of the preliminary research is geared towards maximizing the potential for advancing khat-related research in this and surrounding countries, and will facilitate later development of research that will guide efforts to develop methods to reduce the harm caused by khat and tobacco use. The combination of measures of the stress response and cognitive functioning will provide novel information on the impact of khat use on important behavioral and neurobiological functions. We have assembled a multidisciplinary, international team with distinguished records and experience in all relevant topics. Both the training and research arms of the program will emphasize this breadth of expertise. This program will form a core part of our conceptualization of future research initiatives to further identify neurobehavioral effects of khat an concurrent tobacco use and develop means for effective intervention strategies.
This program addresses the growing use of khat and its harmful effects on health in many countries in Africa and the Middle East and among immigrant communities in Western Europe and North America. The program will advance our knowledge of the short and long-term effects of khat use and help guide efforts to develop future research programs related to prevention and treatment of khat and tobacco use. Combating this problem will have significant benefits on the health conditions in many countries in the world. The program will also be significant in fostering scientific and research capacity-building efforts in Yemen.
| Nakajima, Motohiro; Hoffman, Richard; Alsameai, Abed et al. (2018) Development of the Khat Knowledge, Attitudes and Perception Scale. Drug Alcohol Rev 37:802-809 |
| al?Absi, Mustafa (2018) Stress and Addiction: When a Robust Stress Response Indicates Resiliency. Psychosom Med 80:2-16 |
| Nakajima, Motohiro; Jebena, Mulusew G; Taha, Mohammed et al. (2017) Correlates of khat use during pregnancy: A cross-sectional study. Addict Behav 73:178-184 |
| Nakajima, Motohiro; Bouanene, Ines; El-Mhamdi, Sana et al. (2016) Psychometric Examination of an Arabic Version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 16:e322-8 |
| Nakajima, Motohiro; Dokam, Anisa; Khalil, Najat Saem et al. (2016) Correlates of Concurrent Khat and Tobacco Use in Yemen. Subst Use Misuse 51:1535-1541 |
| Lemieux, Andrine M; Li, Bingshuo; al'Absi, Mustafa (2015) Khat use and appetite: an overview and comparison of amphetamine, khat and cathinone. J Ethnopharmacol 160:78-85 |
| Nyongesa, Albert; Oduma, Jemimah; al'Absi, Mustafa et al. (2015) Immunohistochemical localization of anterior pituitary cell types of vervet monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) following sub-chronic cathinone exposure. J Ethnopharmacol 174:168-77 |
| Baingana, Florence; al'Absi, Mustafa; Becker, Anne E et al. (2015) Global research challenges and opportunities for mental health and substance-use disorders. Nature 527:S172-7 |
| Bongard, Stephan; Nakajima, Motohiro; al'Absi, Mustafa (2015) Khat chewing and acculturation in East-African migrants living in Frankfurt am Main/Germany. J Ethnopharmacol 164:223-8 |
| Nakajima, Motohiro; Hoffman, Richard; Al'Absi, Mustafa (2014) Poor working memory and reduced blood pressure levels in concurrent users of khat and tobacco. Nicotine Tob Res 16:279-87 |
Showing the most recent 10 out of 23 publications
