Cytogenetic Analysis of Micronuclei in Tobacco Chewers: A Study in North Indian Population

Abstract

Aim: Oral cancer ranks in top three of all cancers in India and accounts for over 30% of all cancers reported in the country. The present study aims at an in vivo cytogenetic analysis to assess the applicability of the micronucleus test in diagnosing early detection of dysplastic changes. Materials and methods: Exfoliated scrape smears were collected from 75 patients suffering from premalignant lesions. The wet-fixed smears were stained by adopting Papanicolaou's staining protocol. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to analyze the data statistically. Results: The results of the above study give a fair assessment of the amount of nuclear alterations seen in individuals exposed to genotoxic agents, such as tobacco, and also to a certain extent, an insight into the expected biological behavior of the lesions present in such individuals. Detection of micronuclei and their assay is an upcoming research domain in the field of cancer detection and therapeutics. These miniature nuclear offshoots if properly identified can turn out to be important biomarkers with huge potential for screening and predicting patients with oral precancers and also can act as risk assessors in patient's ongoing treatment for invasive cancers. Conclusion:The frequency of micronucleated cells has been observed to be in increasing order with the increase in the age-groups and from control to precancerous cases significantly in both sexes.

Early Diagnosis of Oral Mucosal Alterations in Smokers and E-Cigarette Users Based on Micronuclei Count: A Cross-Sectional Study among Dental Students

“…Among commonly used stains for MN such as Pap, Feulgen and Giemsa, we used Pap stain, as it is considered the most effective staining technique for cytological assessment, which enables the visualization of clear nuclear and cytoplasmatic characteristics and emphasizes differences between cells located in various layers of the epithelium [39]. However, Feulgen stain was also proposed for assessing MN count due to its DNA specificity, but it was regarded as expensive, with more complicated fixation and staining process and it also requires additional compounds for the contouring of the cytoplasmatic borders.…”