Assessment of Micronuclei in the Cultured Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes of Human Volunteers Consuming Various Forms of Tobacco in Mizoram

Abstract

Tobacco consumption is highly prevalent in Mizoram—a northeastern state of India—and it is one of the main causes of high cancer incidence. Peripheral blood was collected from 245 volunteers within the age group of 18–67 years with their informed consent and micronuclei were prepared in cultured lymphocytes by blocking cytokinesis. Binucleated (BN) cells bearing micronuclei were scored blindly under a fluorescence microscope, where a total of 3000 BN cells were scored for each individual. Significance for micronuclei was determined by Mann-Whitney U test, whereas Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the correlation of micronuclei formation with age. Linear regression was performed to study the effect of different variables on the micronuclei frequency. Frequency of micronuclei increased significantly in individuals who regularly consumed tobacco in any form when compared to individuals of the control cohort. The individuals who were using smokeless tobacco in the form of tuibur (tobacco brew) had a higher frequency of micronuclei than the other form of tobacco. Our study indicated that the use of tobacco in any form is a risk factor for higher amount of DNA damage, which may be the cause of high cancer incidences in Mizoram.

Keywords: Human lymphocytes, DNA damage, micronuclei, tobacco, tuibur

Cite this Article

Bawitlung Lalruatfela, Ganesh Chandra Jagetia. Assessment of Micronuclei in the Cultured Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes of Human Volunteers Consuming Various Forms of Tobacco in Mizoram. Research & Reviews: Journal of Medical Science and Technology. 2019; 8(2): 17–26p.