{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:50:54Z","timestamp":1787028654110,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]],"date-time":"2025-02-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739318400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives:\u00a0Catha edulis, also known as Khat, is a stimulant with hepatotoxic properties. Studies reporting laboratory patterns are scarce. The aim was to assess the patterns associated with hepatic dysfunction due to Khat usage. Methods: Patients with liver injury and self-reported Khat consumption presenting to the gastroenterology department at the King Fahad Central Hospital in Jazan between January 2017\u2013May 2024 were retrospectively included in the study. Patients with any signs of cirrhosis or viral hepatitis were excluded to have a more homogenous inclusion. Normal distribution was not assumed; data were presented as the median (IQR or %). Results: Sixty-three patients (of which 62 (98.4%) were male) aged 35 (29\u201341) years were included in the study. An IgG &gt; 20 g\/L was present in 41 (61.5%) patients, and the majority (n = 48, 76.2%) had a hepatocellular injury pattern based on an R-factor &gt; 5. Over half of the patients had at least one positive autoantibody(ANA 47.6%; SMA 55.6% and AMA 4.8%), while 57 (90.5%) patients received immunosuppressive therapy. Conclusions: Khat-induced liver injury seems to be predominantly AIH-like in nature, given the IgG elevation, hepatocellular injury pattern, and relatively high rate of autoantibody positivity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14041206","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]],"date-time":"2025-02-12T08:05:42Z","timestamp":1739347542000},"page":"1206","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Hepatitis Associated with Catha edulis Consumption\u2014A Single-Center Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ali","family":"Someili","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-9353-6520","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mostafa","family":"Mohrag","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Abdulrasak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, 22100 Malmo, Sweden"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Skane University Hospital, 21428 Malmo, Sweden"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-8741(83)90052-1","article-title":"The chewing of khat in Somalia","volume":"8","author":"Elmi","year":"1983","journal-title":"J. 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