ABSTRACT
Background: Cigarette smoking influences proliferative activity in buccal mucosal cells. The argyrophylic nucleolar organizer region [AgNOR] count has been found to a reliable parameter in determining the proliferative activity. The present study aims at assessing AgNOR count in buccal mucosal cells of smoker and nonsmokers
Methods: The cytological smears of normal buccal mucosa in 75 smokers and 75 nonsmokers were stained for AgNORs. The AgNORs were counted in 100 cells independently by two observes. The count values of groups were compared and analyzed using student's t test
Results: The difference between counts of the two observers was found to be non significant [p> 0.05]. The AgNORs count per cell in smokers [3.280.41] was significantly higher [p<0.01] than AgNORs count per cell in non-smokers [1.820.28]
Conclusion: It is possible on the basis of AgNORs count to differentiate between smoker's buccal mucosaI cells and that of non-smoker's - the effect of smoking. This study also indicates that the AgNOR technique is a simple, rapid, reproducible and inexpensive method. It is concluded that cigarette smoking influences the proliferative activity in buccal mucosal cells