Quantitative assessment of micronuclei in oral exfoliative buccal squamous cells in smokers, chewers and healthy individuals using Giemsa Stain and Papainicolous Stain

Context: The main reason for oral cancer is tobacco consumption in various forms, such as chewing and smoking. Micronuclei in oral exfoliated cells are markers of chromosomal damage caused by toxic genetic agents from tobacco-related substances, alcohol, etc. The number of micronuclei indicates the cell's genotoxic effect and can be used as a biomarker to assess the changes in the cellular changes. Recently research is focused on determining early genotoxicity changes using exfoliative cytology in human buccal epithelial cells. Aim: Quantitative analysis of micronuclei in oral exfoliated oral, buccal mucosal cells using Papainicolous stain with Giemsa stain in tobacco users in the form of chewing and smoking in comparison with healthy individuals. Materials and methods: A total of seventy-five cases were selected for this study. Among seventy-five participants divided into three groups based on habits tobacco smokers (n=25), tobacco chewers (n=25), and healthy individuals (n=25). Results: The mean number of micronuclei in Giemsa stain was 255.2 ± 78 compared with PAP stain155.12 ± 78.5. The increased mean number of micronuclei in chewers 273.24 ± 80.7, and different stain comparison Giemsa stain showed highest in chewers. A mean number of micronuclei showed statistically highly significant (p≤0.05). Pair-wise comparison of micronuclei inter and intra groups in all three groups, smokers and chewers showed highly statistically substantial (p≤ 0.0001) compared with healthy individuals. Conclusion: Micronuclei provide evidence that consumption of smokeless tobacco may be developing oral cancer, and micronuclei assay can be used as biomarkers of genotoxicity and carcinogenesis progression. Key word: Cytological smear, Genotoxicity, Micronuclei, Oral cancer, Tobacco chewers