Oral Lesions Induced by Chronic Khat Use Consist Essentially of Thickened Hyperkeratinized Epithelium

Figure 3

Histological preparations of biopsies from a nonchewer (a) and khat chewers. Acanthosis and intracellular edema are seen both in a smoker (b) and a nonsmoker (c). Varying degrees of keratinization are seen in samples from a mild khat chewer (d), a heavy khat chewer (e), and a heavy khat chewer who also smoked tobacco (magnification ×200). There were no histological differences between smokers and nonsmokers.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)