ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Genotoxic carcinogens in cigarette smoke interact with DNA, causing cytotoxicity. Cytogenetic damage therefore seems to be an excellent biomarker for determining the effect of exposure to chromosome-damaging agents in cigarette smoke. PURPOSE: To study the utility of measurement of frequency of satellite associations (SA) as a biomarker for chromosomal damage using cytogenetic assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 30 smokers and 30 nonsmokers drawn from a rural population of South India. Smokers were divided into three groups of ten each based on their smoking index (SI) (group I: SI < 150, group II: SI 150-300, and group III: SI > 300) and the frequency of SAs was studied. RESULTS: The frequency of SAs was significantly greater in smokers than in nonsmokers and the frequency of SAs among the smokers was also seen to increase with increase in SI. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the genotoxic effect of cigarette smoke on chromosomes increases with smoking intensity. These findings can be used to support smoking cessation interventions.
ABSTRACT
Monilethrix is one of the hair shaft abnormalities with increased fragility of hair. Here we describe a ten-year-old girl with a history of hair loss and breakage of hair since three months of age, associated with keratosis pilaris along with an abnormal microscopic finding of a hair shaft. A cytogenetic study of the patient showed an unexpectedly high degree of Acrocentric association.
