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Cathinone
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===Discovery=== [[Khat]] has been cultivated in the [[Horn of Africa]] and [[Arabian Peninsula]] region of the world for thousands of years. It is most commonly chewed for the [[euphoria|euphoric]] effect it produces. The active ingredient was first proposed in 1930, when [[cathine]] was identified as a predominant alkaloid in the plant.<ref name="Patel">{{cite journal | vauthors = Patel NB | title = Mechanism of action of cathinone: the active ingredient of khat (Catha edulis) | journal = East African Medical Journal | volume = 77 | issue = 6 | pages = 329β332 | date = June 2000 | pmid = 12858935 | doi = 10.4314/eamj.v77i6.46651 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Cathine was thought to be the main active ingredient in khat until the 1960s, when it was found that the amount of cathine in the khat leaves is insufficient to produce the effects observed. In 1975, the United Nations Narcotic Laboratory analyzed khat leaves from [[Yemen]], [[Kenya]] and [[Madagascar]] and found evidence of a different alkaloid, cathinone.<ref name="Patel"/> Cathinone is molecularly similar to cathine, but is much more abundant in younger plants. This finding caused scientists to speculate that cathinone was the true active ingredient in khat.<ref name="Patel"/> A study was conducted in 1994 to test the effects of cathinone. Six volunteers who had never chewed khat were given an active khat sample and a cathinone-free [[placebo]] sample.<ref name="Wilder">{{cite journal | vauthors = Widler P, Mathys K, Brenneisen R, Kalix P, Fisch HU | title = Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of khat: a controlled study | journal = Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics | volume = 55 | issue = 5 | pages = 556β562 | date = May 1994 | pmid = 7910126 | doi = 10.1038/clpt.1994.69 | s2cid = 25788465 }}</ref> The researchers analyzed the participants' moods, activity levels and blood pressure before and after consuming the khat or placebo. This analysis showed that cathinone produced amphetamine-like effects, leading the researchers to confirm that cathinone, not cathine, is the active ingredient in khat leaves.<ref name="Wilder"/>
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