Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region counts in exfoliative cytology of buccal mucosa from opium addicts, smokers and nonsmokers.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) count of cells collected from the normal buccal mucosa of cigarette smokers, opium addicts and nonsmokers.


METHODS
Exfoliative cytologic smears of buccal mucosa from 25 smokers, 25 addicts and 25 nonsmokers were stained for AgNORs according to the Ploton's method. The AgNOR count was performed on 100 cells. These AgNOR counts were compared and analyzed using the SPSS 13 program (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.) and one-way ANOVA test.


RESULTS
Statistically, the highest mean AgNOR count (mAgNOR) was in cells from opium addicts (9.21 +/- 2.95) and the lowest in cells from nonsmokers (4.35 +/- 1.62) (p < 0.0001). For smokers, this value was in midrange (5.68 +/- 2.17). The percentage of cells with 6 or more AgNORs (pAgNOR > or =6) was the best discriminator among the different groups (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Cigarette smoking and particularly opium abuse increases the rate of cellular proliferation in cells of normal buccal mucosa.
Kadivar
Maryam
M
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. dmkadivar@yahoo.com
Attar
Mehrnoush
M
D000328:Adult; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000473:pathology*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D016622:Silver Staining; D012907:Smoking / Q000473:pathology*