Smoking-induced satellite associations in a rural population of south India: An in vitro study

BACKGROUND: Genotoxic carcinogens in cigarette smoke interact with DNA, causing cytotoxicity. Cytogenetic damage therefore seems to be an excellent biomarker for determining the effect of exposure to chromosome-damaging agents in cigarette smoke. PURPOSE: To study the utility of measurement of frequency of satellite associations (SA) as a biomarker for chromosomal damage using cytogenetic assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 30 smokers and 30 nonsmokers drawn from a rural population of South India. Smokers were divided into three groups of ten each based on their smoking index (SI) (group I: SI < 150, group II: SI 150–300, and group III: SI > 300) and the frequency of SAs was studied. RESULTS: The frequency of SAs was significantly greater in smokers than in nonsmokers and the frequency of SAs among the smokers was also seen to increase with increase in SI. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the genotoxic effect of cigarette smoke on chromosomes increases with smoking intensity. These findings can be used to support smoking cessation interventions.