Qualitative ultrastructural analysis of the submandibular salivary glands after administration of khat: in vivo study.
OBJECTIVE
Khat (Catha edulis Forssk) plant has been widely chewed for its psychostimulatory effects in the African and Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Yemen. Considering the khat leaves are gradually chewed without swallowing, while its active constituents are extracted into saliva, studying the effect of khat on salivary glands is necessary. This work is an extension of the previously published work that studied the effect of khat extract on the rats' submandibular salivary glands in terms of histological and immunohistochemical evaluations. The current research note aimed to better understand this effect on the ultrastructure of submandibular salivary gland cells by using transmission electron microscope.


RESULTS
Oral administration of khat extract produced degenerative changes in the secretory and ductal cells of rats' submandibular salivary glands. These changes involved irregular boundaries of variable sized-nuclei, dilated RER, cytoplasmic vacuoles as well as swollen and degenerated mitochondria.
['Al-Qadhi|Gamilah|G|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6865-4866', 'Mubarak|Rabab|R|']
D000818:Animals D029754:Catha D010936:Plant Extracts D018515:Plant Leaves D051381:Rats D012469:Salivary Glands D015006:Yemen
Submandibular salivary gland Khat Catha edulis TEM Ultrastructural changes