Monitoring of genotoxic damage in smokeless tobacco (Maras powder) consumers using micronucleated exfoliated oral cells

Maras powder is a kind of smokeless tobacco used in the south-eastern region of Turkey. The present study was carried out to assess possible DNA damage in exfoliated oral cells of Maras power users by analysing the frequencies of micronuclei (MN), which is a simple and reliable biomarker for genotoxic damage and to screen for the detection of site-specific differences in the frequencies of MN. The mean (+/-SD) MN frequency in the inner lip mucosa site was 1.27(+/-0.55)% for Maras powder users and 0.88(+/-0.47)% for non-smoking control subjects (p<0.05) and 0.82(+/-0.40)% for the buccal site of Maras powder users (p<0.01). There was no significant site-specific difference between the inner lip site and the buccal mucosa site 0.73(+/-0.43)% in the MN frequency of non-smoking control subjects (p>0.05). There was no significant effect of daily consumption of Maras powder, and duration of usage on MN frequencies. The present study suggests that the oral use of smokeless tobacco represents a genotoxic hazard and also that use of MN from a single site may be misleading as a marker of genotoxic exposure. Habitual use of Maras powder should be taken into account and could be considered unsafe.