Betel

About: Betel is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1341 publications have been published within this topic receiving 26709 citations. The topic is also known as: betel.

Areca nut use: an independent risk factor for oral cancer

Abstract: Areca nut is the seed of the fruit of the oriental palm, Areca catechu . It is the basic ingredient of a variety of widely used chewed products. Thin slices of the nut, either natural or processed, may be mixed with a variety of substances including slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and spices such as cardamom, coconut, and saffron. Most significantly, they may be mixed with tobacco products or wrapped in the leaf of the piper betel plant. Hence the more common name betel nut. Areca nut is used by an estimated 200-400 million people, mainly IndoAsians and Chinese.1 It is used by men and women—in some societies the latter predominate. All age groups and social classes use the product. Areca nut has a long history of use and is deeply ingrained in many sociocultural and religious activities.2 Of particular interest in the United Kingdom, and perhaps other developed countries, is that use of areca nut continues and is often enhanced following migration. Thus British Asians have brought the use of areca from India (some via East Africa), Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other countries in the region …

Betel: Consumption and consequences☆☆☆★★★

Abstract: Betel is a compound of natural substances chewed for its psychostimulating effects. Betel is composed of the nut of the areca palm (Areca catechu), the leaf of the betel pepper (Piper betle), and lime (calcium hydroxide). Approximately 200 million persons chew betel regularly throughout the western Pacific basin and south Asia. Only three drugs (nicotine, ethanol, and caffeine) are consumed more widely than betel. When betel is chewed, it produces mild psychoactive and cholinergic effects. There is copious production of a blood-red saliva that can stain oral structures. After years of chewing, the teeth may become red-brown to nearly black. Betel use is associated with oral leukoplakia, submucous fibrosis, and squamous cell carcinoma. Use of betel is discouraged in Western countries because of its alleged carcinogenic and perceived dysesthetic properties; nevertheless, betel is widely available in the West.

Oral mucosal lesions associated with betel quid, areca nut and tobacco chewing habits: consensus from a workshop held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 25-27, 1996.

Abstract: A variety of betel/areca nut/tobacco habits have been reviewed and categorized because of their possible causal association with oral cancer and various oral precancerous lesions and conditions, and on account of their widespread occurrence in different parts of the world. At a recent workshop in Kuala Lumpur it was recommended that "quid" be defined as "a substance, or mixture of substances, placed in the mouth or chewed and remaining in contact with the mucosa, usually containing one or both of the two basic ingredients, tobacco and/or areca nut, in raw or any manufactured or processed form." Clear delineations on contents of the quid (areca nut quid, tobacco quid, and tobacco and areca nut quid) are recommended as absolute criteria with finer subdivisions to be added if necessary. The betel quid refers to any quid wrapped in betel leaf and is therefore a specific variety of quid. The workshop proposed that quid-related lesions should be categorized conceptually into two categories: first, those that are diffusely outlined and second, those localized at the site where a quid is regularly placed. Additional or expanded criteria and guidelines were proposed to define, describe or identify lesions such as chewer's mucosa, areca nut chewer's lesion, oral submucous fibrosis and other quid-related lesions. A new clinical entity, betel-quid lichenoid lesion, was also proposed to describe an oral lichen planus-like lesion associated with the betel quid habit.

Neurological aspects of areca and betel chewing.

Abstract: Betel quid chewing has been claimed to produce a sense of well-being, euphoria, warm sensation of the body, sweating, salivation, palpitation, heightened alertness and increased capacity to work. These effects suggest that betel quid chewing affects predominantly the central and autonomic nervous systems. Several studies have been conducted to elucidate the central and autonomic effects of betel quid chewing. The results are: (1) betel quid chewing increased the heart rate with onset within 2 minutes, maximal effect within 4-6 minutes and an average duration of 16.8 minutes. The cardio-acceleratory response was more prominent for fresh and occasional chewers than for habitual chewers; (2) betel quid chewing increased the skin temperature with onset and duration similar to a cardio-acceleratory response. The hyperthermic effect was abolished by atropine and partly inhibited by propranolol. (3) Betel quid chewing had no effect on simple reaction time but shortened the choice reaction time. (4) Betel quid chewing produced widespread cortical desynchronization of EEG. (5) Chewing of one or two betel quids attenuated the sympathetic skin response while continued consumption of more than two betel quids affected the RR interval variation. (6) Plasma concentrations of noradrenaline and adrenaline were elevated during betel quid chewing. These studies have confirmed several effects claimed by betel quid users. The effects of betel quid chewing appeared to be habit-related and dose-dependent. Although arecoline has been thought to be responsible for several effects of betel quid chewing, the present data suggest a role also played by sympathetic activation.

Betel nut constituents as inhibitors of gamma-aminobutyric acid uptake.

Abstract: THE pharmacological properties of betel nut, the dried seed of Areca catechu which is consumed in immense quantities in the East as a masticatory, are usually interpreted in terms of the cholinomimetic effects of the major alkaloid component, arecoline. Betel nut contains lesser amounts of the related alkaloid guvacoline and the amino acids arecaidine and guvacine. According to popular tradition, a mixture of crushed betel nut and lime is enveloped in leaves of Piper betle before chewing. This treatment with lime has been shown to hydrolyse almost quantitatively arecoline to arecaidine1, a well tolerated substance which lacks the typical parasympathomimetic effects of arecoline, including tremor and salivation1,2. Studies on the effects of arecaidine on the behaviour of mice indicate that this substance participates in producing some of the psychic changes ascribed to the betel mixture1,2. These betel constituents are tetrahydronicotinic acid derivatives (Fig. 1) and we have shown that nipecotic acid, ‘hexahydronicotinic acid’, is a potent inhibitor of the uptake of the central inhibitory transmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in rat brain slices3. Nipecotic acid potentiates the depressant action of microelectrophoretically administered GABA on the firing of feline spinal neurones4. As the uptake of GABA is likely to be concerned with the inactivation of this transmitter, interference with GABA uptake could result in behavioural changes. The structural similarities between nipecotic acid and the betel nut constituents together with the above mentioned findings prompted us to examine the influence of these compounds on GABA uptake. We have found that arecaidine and guvacine are competitive inhibitors of GABA uptake in rat brain slices and we propose that some of the psychic effects of betel nut consumption may be the result of inhibition of GABA uptake.