Assessment of DNA Damage in Peripheral Blood of Tobacco Users

The smokeless tobacco has a physical powerful association with the risk of oral leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis, Oral squamous cell carcinoma and Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. ST components exhibit genotoxicity and may alter the structure of DNA, proteins and lipids, resulting in the production of antigenicity. Present study was carried out to investigate the effects of chewing tobacco (CT) with smoking on lymphocyte DNA damage. After signing a consent form, volunteers provided blood samples (76 samples from including experimental and control subjects) to establish SCGE (comet).  Statistically significant results were obtained in experimental subjects when compared to controls. However association found with smoking had significant effect, and it can induce maximum amount of DNA damage. The genotoxic effect of chewing tobacco (CT) should be considered in addition to other known hazards for assessing health risks.