Sister-chromatid exchanges in lymphocytes of smokers in an experimental study.
The frequency of sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) was studied in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 26 young male smokers and 10 non-smokers who had recently entered military service. The levels of SCEs were examined in 4 consecutive blood samples taken after short experimental periods of smoking only low-tar (LT) or medium-tar (MT) cigarettes. The incidence of SCEs was significantly higher in the the group of smokers than in the group of non-smokers. The SCE levels of the smokers were found to be associated with the personal smoking history; the observed increase in the SCE frequency correlated with the years of smoking measured as cumulative pack years. The difference in type of cigarette did not influence the SCE frequencies.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012854:Sister Chromatid Exchange; D012907:Smoking; D013997:Time Factors