Cervical precancerous lesions - Chromosomal instability in peripheral blood lymphocytes in relation to lesion stage, age and smoking habits

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate chromosomal damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of patients newly diagnosed with cervical precancerous lesions with respect to age, smoking habits, miscarriages, abortions and lesion stage. Design. Clinical study. Setting. Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Kragujevac, Serbia, during 2009-2010. Population. The analyzed samples included 41 untreated patients aged 24-65years with a diagnosed low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL; 19 patients) or a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL; 22 patients). Control samples were obtained from 40 healthy women aged 24-53 years. Methods. The frequency of micronuclei (MN) was estimated in circulating lymphocytes by using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay. Main Outcome Measure. The frequency of MN in PBL. Results. The mean MN frequencies of both LSIL and HSIL patients were significantly higher than the MN frequency of healthy control women. There was no significant difference in MN frequency between LSIL and HSIL patients, between smokers and nonsmokers in both patient and control samples, or between miscarriage groups and abortion groups of patients. Considering confounder factors, age and health status influenced MN frequency. Conclusions. The results suggest that MN frequency in PBL of patients with cervical precancerous lesions corresponds to an increase of chromosomal damage, irrespective of smoking habits, miscarriages, abortions and lesion stages. © 2011 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.