The micronucleus assay in exfoliated buccal cells induced by lifestyle factors: an overview

We describe the impact of lifestyle related factors on the formation of micronuclei (MN) in buccal cells. It is known that consumption of alcohol and of other drugs including tobacco and other plants cause damage of the genetic material and leads to adverse health effects. Overall, 235 articles were evaluated in total. Tobacco smoking, i.e., consumption of cigarettes (75 publications), water pipes (11 publications) and crack smoking (5 publications) caused mainly positive effects, while negative results were obtained with pure marijuana (2 publications). Chewing habits (smokeless tobacco (27 publications) and betel with and without tobacco (23 publications) caused induction of MN in cells from the oral cavity (numbers indicate the number of publications). A study concerning khat chewing yielded a positive finding while reduction of MN was seen in consumers of coca leaves. Investigations concerning the effects of alcohol (11 publications), meat consumption (3 publications) and studies concerning the impact of the body mass index and body fat (4 publications) led to inconsistent results. No evidence of MN induction was observed in studies on continuous physical exercise (2 publications). Furthermore, exhaustive sporting activities also showed no indications of chromosomal damage (2 publications). A number of studies (in total 22 publications) were realized to investigate the effects of mobile phone specific radiation. The exposure was not adequately assessed in these investigations with questionnaires, furthermore, frequently inadequate stains (11 publications). The findings are controversial, and a clear negative result was obtained in a recent controlled intervention study. Overall the results indicate that the MN assay with buccal cells can be used to monitor chromosomal damage caused by smoking and chewing habits and to predict adverse health effects in the respiratory system and on the upper gastrointestinal tract. To draw firm conclusions about the effects of nutrition, mobile phone use, physical exercise, and body weight, further well-controlled trials are needed.