[Cytogenetic and other cariological parameters of exfoliative buccal cells in Vietnamese children from areas where dioxin-containing herbicides were applied].

In a cohort of 69 South Vietnam children, full cariological analysis of buccal epithelial cells was performed. In order to evaluate the significance of cariological changes, all the parameters under study were divided into three groups: cytogenetic indices, apoptotic indices, and indirect indices of proliferation; integral indexes in each group were determined and the relations between them were found while assessing the effects of environment pollution on public health. The number of cells with cytogenetic alterations (micronuclei and protrusions) was increased, the process of tissue proliferation was intensified, and the apoptotic process was decelerated in children li-ing in areas polluted with Agent Orange/dioxins, which evidenced that the complex of environmental factors these superecotoxicants were part of had a harmful effect on the population. The parameters studied did not depend on age and sex of the children; the number of congenital morphogenetic variants per one child significantly correlated with the sum of cells with cytogenetic alterations.