Comparative Analyses Between the Smoking Habit Frequency and the Nucleolar Organizer Region Associated Proteins in Exfoliative Cytology of Smokers' Normal Buccal Mucosa

An evaluation of the cellular alterations in the smoker's oral mucosal cells was performed. Exfoliative Citology technique were applied and the cytologic smears stained with silver for quantitative analyses of Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions. (AgNORs). Cytologic smears were collected from two anatomic sites, mouth floor and tongue border with the purpose of relating the frequency of smoking with the quantitative analyses of the AgNORs. This study showed that the average number of AgNORs/nucleus is related with the number of cigarettes per day in the mouth floor of smoker's. These results suggest a possible relation between the number of cigarettes per day and an increase rate of cellular proliferation in the oral mucosal cells.