Researchers who tested Muguka/Miraa on rats have brought encouraging news and a warning to Kenyans struggling with addiction.
Their findings suggest that while muguka may be easier to quit compared to other drugs, it has a rewarding property that can easily lead to relapse in persons attempting to stop its use.
The researchers, from the University of Nairobi, last year bought muguka (a variant of khat) from retailers in Nairobi’s Westlands area.
They then
extracted the juices and injected rats with it or a saline solution. After a khat
injection, rats would be placed in a specific chamber associated with the drug.
When
injected with a saline solution, they would be placed in a different chamber,
painted a different colour.
The idea
was to see if the rats would develop a preference for the chamber associated with khat, a concept known as conditioned place preference.
CPP occurs
when you find yourself preferring one place more than others because you associate
it with rewarding events, such as a drug that gives you a high.
“We wanted
to test whether khat produces a lasting association between its effects and the
environment where it’s used,” explained the researchers, led by Caroline K. Murithi,
from UoN.
After eight
days of conditioning, the rats were tested for CPP by allowing free access to
all chambers without any injections. “Rats treated with 250 mg/kg of khat
showed a strong preference for the khat-associated chamber,” Murithi and her
colleagues noted.
However, after
just 16 days without khat, the rats’ associations with the drug and the khat-chamber
vanished completely.
These
findings, published in IBRO Neuroscience Reports, suggest khat may not create
the strong environmental dependencies often seen with other addictive
substances like bhang, alcohol, cocaine or opioids.
Researchers
said for people trying to quit khat, the findings provide a sense of hope.
They said sustained
abstinence could lead to a relatively quick reduction in cravings and
environmental triggers.
“The complete extinction of the association
suggests that khat exposure does not produce a strong, long-lasting link
between it and its environment,” the researchers noted.
The paper
is titled, “Khat-induced conditioned place preference, extinction, and
reinstatement in female mice.”
Other co-authors
are Jacques Kabaru and Nilesh Patel, both of the University of Nairobi.
Addiction
often involves both the chemical effects of a substance and the associations
formed with its use.
For instance,
a person who always uses drugs in a specific room might feel cravings just by
entering that room.
Many addictive drugs, such as cocaine or
morphine, create lasting links between their effects and the settings where
they are consumed. These links can trigger cravings, even years later.
For khat,
the rapid extinction of this association raises questions about its addictive
nature.
The study
pointed out: “In cases like cocaine or morphine, several weeks of abstinence
are often needed before similar extinction occurs. This difference could
indicate that khat does not create a strong environmental dependency.”
The World
Health Organization (WHO) classifies khat as a drug of abuse but notes its
lower addiction risk compared to alcohol or tobacco. Still, many regular users
report dependency symptoms, such as irritability and depression, when they stop
chewing khat.
The UoN
study also tested relapse behavior by reintroducing khat after the environmental
association had faded. After 16 days of
abstinence, rats given a low priming dose of khat showed renewed preference for
the khat-associated chamber. This effect did not occur when tested after 14 more
days.
At least
900,000 Kenyans chew khat for its stimulant effects, including heightened
alertness and talkativeness.
This is according
to the National Survey on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use in Kenya 2022.
Chewing sessions
can last several hours, often involving up to 500 grams of khat leaves.
Experts
suggest that while khat may not be as addictive as other substances, its
regular use can still lead to problematic patterns.
“ The risk
of depressive disorder among users of khat was 1.7 times higher compared to
nonusers,” the 2022 survey by the National Authority for the Campaign Against
Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) showed.
However, the
new UoN study provides new evidence that khat’s reinforcing effects may be
weaker than initially assumed.
The
researchers called for more studies to assess the broader implications of their
findings. “Further research is needed to explore khat’s effects at different
doses and with longer abstinence periods,” Murithi said.
However, while
such animal studies provide valuable insights, the results may not always
translate directly to humans. Differences in physiology, metabolism, and
genetics between species mean that effects observed in rats may vary
significantly when in people.
