A Light Microscopic Study of the Effects of Smoking on Apoptosis Process in Epithelial Cells Lining The Mouth

Abstract

Background: It is well known fact that smoking and chewing of tobacco products have number of well documented detrimental effects on the oral cavity. There is an evident that oral cancer risk is related to both intensity and duration of tobacco smoking. Aim: This study was designed to revel the effects of smoking on the apoptosis process and degeneration of epithelial cells lining mouth. Methodology: Specimens were collected from epithelial lining cells of heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes a day over more than 10 years) and non-smokers mouth. Smears were stained with Giemsa stain to study the epithelial cells. Results: The results showed that the percentage of apoptotic and degenerated cells in smoker were higher than that of non-smoker. This percentage showed increment with the increment of smoker years. These changes cause congestion of the tissue lining mouth which becomes a good environment to the microorganism growth, which lead to infiltration of inflammatory cells. Conclusion: From this study it has been concluded that smoke of Tobacco has direct effects on the DNA of epithelial cells lining mouth, which lead to carcinogenic risk