Cytogenetic Biomonitoring in Buccal Mucosa Cells from Young Smokers

Abstract

Objective: Nowadays, much attention has been focused on the search for new non-invasive methodologies able to predict malignant transformation of oral mucosa cells. The aim of the present study was to comparatively evaluate DNA damage (micronucleus) and cellular death (pyknosis, karyolysis and karyorrhexis) in exfoliated oral mucosa cells from smokers and non-smokers in buccal mucosa cells. Study Design: A total of 24 young, healthy smokers and 14 non-smokers were included in this setting. Individuals had epithelial cells from the cheek mechanically exfoliated, placed in fixative and dropped in clean slides which were checked for the above nuclear phenotypes. Results: Smokers presented more (p < 0.05) micronucleated oral mucosa cells than non-smokers. Tobacco smoke was not able to increase other nuclear alterations closely related to cytotoxicity such as karyorrhexis, pyknosis and karyolysis. Conclusion: In summary, these data indicate that the cigarette is able to induce micronuclei in oral mucosa cells, so the micronucleus test is a suitable method for predicting oral cancer risk.

Cytogenetic Biomonitoring in Buccal Mucosa Cells of Young Smokers

“…Especially the role of nicotine, which has been mentioned by us [3] and also by Pereira da Silva et al [1] , warrants further study. Also, we are sure that Pereira da Silva et al [1] overestimated the genotoxic effect of smoking. Some clarifications from the authors concerning the unclear points of the paper are certainly warranted.…”

“…Wu et al [6] 88 be 23-fold. This is why we think Pereira da Silva et al [1] overestimated the effect of smoking.…”

“…In the study by Pereiera da Silva et al [1] the participants smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day for at least 5 years. Hence, there is a discrepancy with the analyses of Bonassi et al [5] and some other studies [6][7][8] .…”

“…The article by da Silva et al [1] entitled 'Cytogenetic biomonitoring in buccal mucosa cells from young smokers' was read with great interest since we have published several papers concerning the influence of smoking on the formation of micronuclei (MN) and other nuclear anomalies in smokers [2][3][4] . The authors of the discussed paper found a strong effect of smoking on MN formation, ranging from 0 in control subjects to 0.7% in smokers.…”

“…Another set of strange data are presented in the second table of their report [1] . Since the authors stated that the results are expressed in percentages, the content of pyknotic cells among buccal cells is 108-110%!…”