A constituent of khat leaves with amphetamine-like releasing properties.
Khat leaves, which are widely abused as a stimulant, contain the alkaloid (--)-cathinone. The effect of this compound on the efflux of radioactivity from rabbit striatal tissue prelabelled with [3H]dopamine was examined. (--)-Cathinone enhanced the release of label, and was found to have a potency similar to that of (+)-amphetamine. The observation demonstrates that the khat alkaloid also has amphetamine-like effects at the cellular level.
D000470:Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D010944:Plants / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders
D000470:Alkaloids; D000661:Amphetamine; D004298:Dopamine