ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the genetic toxic effect of smoking on human oral mucosa,and the DNA damage of exfoliated oral mucosa cells.Methods:The DNA damage of exfoliated oral mucosa cells was investigated by single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE)in 12 cases of malignant tumor,19 cases of benign tumor and 10 health controls.There were 24 smokers and 17 non-smokers among them.The tail length and frequency of comet cells were used to measure DNA damage.SPSS and SAS software were used for statistical analysis.Results:Malignant tumors had a longer tail length and higher frequency of comet cells than benign tumors and health controls,and the difference was statistically significant(P0.05).The DNA damage of exfoliated oral mucosa cells in smokers was more serious than that of non-smokers(P