BEHAVIORAL-EFFECTS OF CATHINONE, AN AMINE OBTAINED FROM CATHA-EDULIS FORSK - COMPARISONS WITH AMPHETAMINE, NORPSEUDOEPHEDRINE, APOMORPHINE AND NOMIFENSINE

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 32  (3) , 67-81
Abstract
The effect of khat (C. edulis Forsk., family Celastraceae), a plant used for its stimulant effects in eastern Africa and southern Arabia, was until recently attributed to the pharmacological action of d-norpseudoephedrine, also known as cathine. The isolation in 1975 of cathinone revived an earlier suggestion that the fresh leaves contained a substance more potent than cathine. The higher stimulant capacity of cathinone was confirmed. This substance produces qualitatively similar locomotor stimulation in mice and comparable stereotypy in rats as amphetamine does, although it is approximately half as active. The results obtained after pre-treatment with reserpine or .alpha.-methyl-p-tyrosine, which interfere with the catecholamine system, strongly suggest that cathinine interacts with brain catecholamines by an indirect mechanism and, most probably, by affecting neurotransmitter release of the labile pool.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: