Micronucleus assay in epithelial cells from the oral cavity and urinary tract in female smokers and non-smokers

The aim of the work was to investigate the possible use of epithelial cells from the oral cavity and urinary tract in identifying smoking-related effects in women. Epithelial cells from the oral cavity and urinary tract were collected from 9 smoking and 9 non-smoking women and subjected to micronucleus assay. The DNA damage (cells with micronuclei and nuclear buds), cytokinetic defects (binucleated cells) and cell death (condensed chromatin, karyorrhexis, pyknosis and karyolysis) were observed after DNA specific staining. In pooled analysis of the frequency of binucleated cells and condensed chromatin cells in 18 studied women, statistically significant differences were noted only in epithelial cells from the oral cavity in comparison to those of the urinary tract. Non pooled results demonstrated no differences in damage frequency in cells collected from the oral cavity and isolated from the urine. The lack of differences in the observed frequencies of micronuclei in buccal and urothelial cells could be an effect of the small size of the sampled group, smoking pattern of the women and the number of cigarettes smoked per day.