Evaluation of smoking genotoxicity in Turkish young adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND:For the past few decades, it has been widely known in developed countries that tobacco is dangerous, but it is still insufficiently realized how big these dangers really are.AIMS:To determine and evaluate micronuclei (MN) frequencies of young smokers and nonsmokers in three different tissues (peripheric blood lymphoctes, buccal mucosa, and exfoliative urothelial cells) at the same time.MATERIALS AND METHODS:MN assay was performed on buccal mucosa, urothelial cells, and peripheric blood lymphocyte samples obtained from 15 healthy male smokers (>5 pack-years) and 15 healthy male nonsmoker controls who had not been exposed to any known genotoxic agent.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED:The statistical differences between smoker and nonsmoker groups were calculated by using student t test. The differences between smoker-group tissues were compared by ANOVA.RESULTS:It was found that MN frequency (mean value ± standard deviation) in oral mucosa cells from smokers and controls were 1.20 ± 0.22% and 0.26 ± 0.10%; in urothelial exfoliative cells, 1.29 ± 0.28% and 0.12 ± 0.08%; in peripheric blood lymphocytes, 1.53 ± 0.23% and 0.38 ± 0.12%, respectively. The mean MN frequencies in buccal mucosa, urothelial exfoliative cells, and peripheric blood lymphocytes were significantly higher in smokers than in those of controls (P<0.05). All tissues were affected from smoking, but the most destructive effect was seen in urothelial cells of smokers (P<0.05).CONCLUSIONS:Our data showed that cigarette smoke is a DNA damage causitive agent on exfoliative buccal mucosa and urothelial cells and peripheric blood lymphocytes of young smokers, but it has most destructive effect on urothelial cells.

Micronuclei frequency in urothelial cells of bladder cancer patients, as a biomarker of prognosis

“…In this context, the detection of increased levels of MN in urothelial cells can be a useful approach to detect individuals prone to have bladder cancer, and/or to assess the prognosis of the pathology. Increased MN frequencies in urothelial cells of humans populations have been associated to those risk factors involved in bladder cancer such as tobacco (Zamani et al, ), arsenic (Paul et al, ), and occupational exposure to organic solvents (Hoyos‐Giraldo et al, ). Additionally, MN formation was detected in the bladder cells of rats exposed to orto‐phenylphenol, a fungicide and antibacterial agent well known as a bladder tumor inducer in rats (Balakrishnan and Eastmod, ).…”

Genotoxic effects of silver amalgam and composite restorations: Micronuclei-Based cohort and case–control study in oral exfoliated cells

“…The presence of MN within these cells are associated with genetic defects in genome maintenance, exposure to genotoxic agents, accelerated aging, oral cancer risk, and neurodegenerative diseases. [ 12 ] MN is considered as small detached portion of extranuclear DNA which is formed during cell division. This serves as a marker of DNA damage and hence used to determine the cellular damage caused by genotoxic agents.…”

Nuclear abnormalities in buccal mucosa cells of patients with type I and II diabetes treated with folic acid

“…The effect of smoking on the presence of MN and NA in buccal mucosa cells has been a controversial topic, because some authors have found no relationship, whereas others found an association [10,55,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62]. Some authors have considered diet and the number and type of cigarettes smoked per day (packs per year, with or without filters, regular or light, type and origin of snuff) [55,61,63], but results have been variable.…”