Khat Research Program: Neurobehavioral Impact of Long-Term Use

描述(由申请人提供)：我们计划建立一个多学科的研究和培训计划，重点是阿拉伯茶，一种在非洲和中东广泛使用的精神刺激植物，与显著的神经行为和健康影响有关。我们将利用这笔试探性/发展性赠款来实现两个主要目标。首先是发展合作关系和提供所需的能力建设资源，包括举办一系列研究培训讲习班，设立机构审查委员会，开展有关研究道德标准的培训，并组织半年度会议，以发展未来的方案研究。第二个目标是完成初步研究，以确定长期使用阿拉伯茶的认知、情感和生物行为后果。使用阿拉伯茶的人和不使用阿拉伯茶的人将在反应抑制、注意力、注意力、记忆力以及对急性压力的荷尔蒙和心血管反应等测试中的表现进行比较。我们将包括两个阿拉伯茶使用者的样本，那些单独使用阿拉伯茶的人和那些同时使用阿拉伯茶和烟草的人。其目的将是审查同时使用这两种物质的影响。该计划将通过在也门开展这项工作来利用独特的人口和环境。初步研究的设计旨在最大限度地发挥在该地区和周边国家推进与阿拉伯茶有关的研究的潜力，并将促进以后开展的研究，这些研究将指导制定减少阿拉伯茶和烟草使用造成的危害的方法。应激反应和认知功能的测量相结合，将提供有关使用阿拉伯茶对重要的行为和神经生物学功能的影响的新信息。我们组建了一支多学科的国际团队，在所有相关主题上都有杰出的记录和经验。该计划的培训和研究部门都将强调这种专业知识的广度。该计划将构成我们未来研究计划概念化的核心部分，以进一步确定同时使用烟草对神经行为的影响，并为有效的干预策略开发手段。公共卫生相关性：该方案针对非洲和中东许多国家以及西欧和北美的移民社区越来越多地使用阿拉伯茶及其对健康的有害影响。该计划将促进我们对使用阿拉伯茶的短期和长期影响的了解，并有助于指导未来开发与预防和治疗阿拉伯茶和烟草使用有关的研究计划的努力。解决这一问题将对世界上许多国家的健康状况产生重大好处。该项目还将对促进也门的科学和研究能力建设工作具有重要意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We plan to establish a multidisciplinary research and training program focusing on khat, a psychostimulant plant widely used in Africa and the Middle East associated with significant neurobehavioral and health effects. We will use this exploratory/developmental grant to achieve two primary goals. The first is to develop collaborative relationships and provide needed capacity-building resources that will include a series of research training workshops, establishing an Institutional Review Board, conducting relevant training on ethical standards of research, and organizing semi-annual meetings to develop future programmatic research. The second goal is to complete preliminary research to determine cognitive, affective, and biobehavioral consequences of long-term khat use. Khat users and nonusers will be compared on their performance on tests of response inhibition, attention, concentration, memory, and hormonal and cardiovascular responses to acute stress. We will include two samples of khat users, those who use khat alone and those who use khat and tobacco together. The purpose will be to examine the influence of the concurrent use of both substances. The program will take advantage of a unique population and setting by conducting this work in Yemen. The design of the preliminary research is geared towards maximizing the potential for advancing khat-related research in this and surrounding countries, and will facilitate later development of research that will guide efforts to develop methods to reduce the harm caused by khat and tobacco use. The combination of measures of the stress response and cognitive functioning will provide novel information on the impact of khat use on important behavioral and neurobiological functions. We have assembled a multidisciplinary, international team with distinguished records and experience in all relevant topics. Both the training and research arms of the program will emphasize this breadth of expertise. This program will form a core part of our conceptualization of future research initiatives to further identify neurobehavioral effects of khat an concurrent tobacco use and develop means for effective intervention strategies. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This program addresses the growing use of khat and its harmful effects on health in many countries in Africa and the Middle East and among immigrant communities in Western Europe and North America. The program will advance our knowledge of the short and long-term effects of khat use and help guide efforts to develop future research programs related to prevention and treatment of khat and tobacco use. Combating this problem will have significant benefits on the health conditions in many countries in the world. The program will also be significant in fostering scientific and research capacity-building efforts in Yemen.