Increased frequency of nuclear anomalies in exfoliated buccal mucosa of cigarette smokers

Abstract

Smoking causes genetic damage associated with increased risk of oral cancer. Cigarette smoking induces genetic aberrations and micronucleus assay is a great biomarker to study the effect of smoking in human population. The present study was undertaken to detect incidence of nuclear anomalies in the exfoliated buccal epithelial cells of smokers using micronucleus assay. 100 healthy individuals (48 smokers and 52 non-smokers) were chosen randomly for the present study. A significantly high frequency of micronuclei was observed in the smokers (p<0.01) as compared to non-smokers. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in the frequency of binucleate cells and karyolysis depicting increased damage in the smokers. A dose-response relationship was observed between smoking and DNA damage.