The micronucleus test for the oral mucosa: global trends and new questions

Abstract

This study reviews global trends in the publication of papers on the micronucleus test of the exfoliated cells of the oral mucosa in mammals as an approach for environmental biomonitoring. This test has been widely used due to its precision for the detection of chromosome damage. Our temporal analysis showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the publication of papers on the oral mucosa over the past 33 years. Brazil was the country that published most papers (24% of the total), followed by India (16%), the USA (10%), Mexico (7%), and Turkey (6%). A further 30 countries contributed the other 37% of the papers. Overall, 99% of the micronucleus studies involved human subjects, and only 1% involved other mammals. As many wild mammals are subject to the same environmental pressures as humans, in particular chemical pollution, it seems likely that many species are equally susceptible to genotoxicogical damage. We emphasize the importance of applying this technique to the analysis of the oral mucosa of wild mammals, as well as the evaluation of its effectiveness, as observed in humans, and the expansion of the available approaches to the monitoring of environmental quality.

Cytological features of buccal epithelium in patients of various ages

“…This requires promising definitions of biological age and the pace of the human body development based on laboratory and instrumental assessment of the structure and functions of tissues. In different studies of the biological age and rate of body aging can be found more than 150 biochemical, endocrinological, morphological, immunological, anthropometric and clinical physiological parameters [2,3,4]. In this regard the urgent task is searching for biological objects (tissues, cells, biological fluids) for the timely diagnosis of signs of accelerated aging.…”

Micronucleus in oral exfoliated cells and associated factors among young adults in the far south of Brazil

“…In this study, although, smokers had higher MN frequency, the statistical significance was limitrophe. In the past years, smoking is recognized as major risk factor for genotoxicity in oral mucosa (9) .…”

“…MN test has become the standard technique for the evaluation of cytogenetic damage in tissue targeted (7,8) . Therefore, there are a significant growth in the number of studies on the MN test over the years and it has been used traditionally to investigate lifestyle factors on DNA (2,6,9,10) . Santos Maidana M, Santos M, Fernandes CLF, Garcia EM, Dumith SC, Silva Júnior FMR, Micronucleus in oral exfoliated cells and associated factors among young adults in the far south of Brazil 152…”

Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of cigarette and waterpipe tobacco smoking on buccal mucosa

“…Micronuclei (MN) frequencies corroborate the commonly recognized idea that the MN are products of early events in human oncogenic pathway development, especially in the oral cavity, which is immediately exposed to cigarettes and WTS. [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 ] The typical documented stable population with respect to MN frequency is 1–3 per 1000 cells. [ 7 8 9 ] Brown, J.E et al .…”