Alkaline comet assay as a biomarker of DNA-damage encountered in workers engaged in cigarette manufacturing

Background and Purpose: The aim of this pilot study was to determine possible genotoxic effects of occupational exposure to tobacco dust between workers employed in tobbaco industry and non-exposed population. Subjects and Method The exposed group consisted of 20 subjects with mena age of 43.4 years. The average duration of their occupational exposure was 19.95 years. The control group consisted of 40 subjects, mean age 40.18 years and was choosen from general Croatian population. The assessment of primary DNA damage hosted by peripheral blood leukocytes was performed using the alkaline comet assay, the tail length and long-tailed nuclei there by being the primary outcome of the measure. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that group comet tail length mean measured in the exposed workers was 14.39 +/- 1.02 mu m whereas mean percentage of long-tailed nuclei was 8.20. In the control group, the man tail length was 13.91 +/- 0.66 mu m and long-tailed nucleus percentage was 1.88. Mean values for the tail length measured and the percentage of long-tailed nuclei were significantly higher in the exposed group compared to the control one. Within the exposed population, significant inter-individual differences in DNA damage were found (P<0.05). The observed DNA damage frequency characterized the tobacco dust as an undoubted genotoxicant, and the outcome of the alkaline comet assay stressed the importance of biomonitoring of the exposed individuals.