Cytogenetic analysis of genetic damage in young individuals exposed to Chronic Mechanical Irritation in the lateral border of the tongue due to sharp teeth – A novel study.

Abstract

Background. Chronic inflammation is estimated to contribute to approximately 25% of human cancers. Inflammation can be induced by chronic mechanical irritation which can lead to oral pre-cancer and oral cancer. Though many studies have been conducted to identify the genetic damage in oral cancer or dysplastic stages, no study has been completed so far on early detection of genetic damage in healthy individuals presenting with sharp teeth in contact with the lateral border of the tongue.
 Objective. The study is aimed at analyzing the genetic damage (micronuclei) in healthy individuals with sharp teeth in contact with the lateral border of the tongue causing chronic mechanical irritation.
 Methods. The study group comprised of 75 clinically healthy individuals with sharp teeth in contact with the lateral border of the tongue and 25 clinically healthy individuals with normal teeth in contact with the lateral border of the tongue as a control group. Brush samples of epithelial cells were collected, then spread over clean glass slide and fixed in 100% alcohol, stained with rapid PAP and analyzed under the light microscope. The exfoliated cells were examined to detect micronuclei.
 Results. Micronuclei frequency was found to be increased in the study group where sharp teeth were in contact with the lateral border of the tongue of healthy individuals without deleterious habits such as usage of tobacco in smoking/smokeless form, areca nut chewing or alcohol consumption.
 Conclusions. Cytogenetic analysis is a simple and scantly invasive technique allowing clinicians the early detection of DNA damage in patients with sharp teeth and subsequently preventing carcinogenesis by proper treatment and follow-up.

Re: Evaluation of Micronuclei and Cytomorphometric Changes in Patients with Different Tobacco Related Habits Using Exfoliated Buccal Cells

“…The authors of the letter also point out that counting 100 cells alone is not sufficient, and at least 1,000 to 3,000 cells need to be counted for micronuclei assessment. While we do agree that counting more number of cells would give more reliable results, our methodology follows the procedure adopted by several researchers in the past who have counted only 100 cells for assessment of micronuclei (Dayanand et al, 2017;Upadhyay et al, 2019;Singam et al, 2019;Yoithapprabhunath et al, 2021). There seems to be no worldwide consensus on the minimum number of cells that need to be counted.…”

Squamous cell carcinoma around a subperiosteal implant in the maxilla and the association of chronic mechanical irritation and peri-implantitis: a case report

“…As carcinogenic risk factors, environmental factors can be representatively classified into physical, biological, and chemical factors [ 1 , 2 ]. The physical factors include ionizing radiation, ultraviolet, or mechanical irritation, while the biological factors include various viruses or microbes [ 1 – 6 ]. The chemical factors mainly include tobacco or alcohol [ 1 , 2 , 6 ].…”

“…The physical factors include ionizing radiation, ultraviolet, or mechanical irritation, while the biological factors include various viruses or microbes [ 1 – 6 ]. The chemical factors mainly include tobacco or alcohol [ 1 , 2 , 6 ].…”

“…Peri-implantitis, a condition characterized by inflammation and loss of the supporting tissue around dental implants, rarely results in inflammation-induced carcinogenesis [ 12 , 13 ]. A hypothesis suggests that chronic mechanical irritation could act as a co-factor in carcinogenesis [ 5 , 6 ], while peri-implantitis might act as an initiating or promoting agent in the development of mucosal cancer [ 13 ].…”

Association between chronic mechanical irritation and oral cancer needs more original research

“…Current criteria of causality hold that a cocarcinogen may be a facilitating cause and a promoting factor could be a potentiating cause of a known carcinogen. In addition, there is biomolecular evidence linking CMI with conditions that promote OSCC (Gilligan et al, 2020;Lazos et al, 2020;Yoithapprabhunath et al, 2021).…”