الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract The current work was carried out on 27 apparently healthy adult New Zealand rabbits (3 males &24 females) of 2.5 ± 0.5 kg body weight. The extract of khat was orally administered to pregnant rabbits from 8thto 18th day of gestation at doses of 0, 3, 6and 12ml/kg. body weight. On 28th day of gestation, all dams were slaughtered and the fetal gross anomalies, histopathological abnormalities in liver, kidney, brain, spinal cord, heart, Lung, digestive tract and spleen in addition to skeletal anomalies of rabbit feti were assessed. The present study indicated that khat possesses teratogenic properties on developing embryos like under weight, Cleft palate, meningeocele, twisted limb, umbilical hernia and resorbed feti . Also, we concluded that the developmental anomalies of khat are dose-related. The current investigation proved that khat associated with hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. skeletal examination of the fetus of treated dams showed several types of malformations and variations in all groups of animals such as unossified phalanges, deformed sternum, completely unossified vertebral lamina as well as gradual decrease in length and width of the skull and mandible with increase in khat dose. |