The influence of indirect exposure to chlorine pesticides on nuclear anomalies in exfoliated buccal cells

Abstract

Background: The number of micronuclei (MNi) and other nuclear anomalies (NA) were studied in exfoliated buccal cells of healthy parturient women from two agricultural regions of Armenia. Methods: The women were farmer wives and were indirectly exposed to chlorine pesticides because the residues of DDE and DDE were found in their breast milk and blood. As a control were studied healthy parturient women who were not exposed to pesticides living in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. No traces of pesticides were found in biological fluids of these women. Exfoliated buccal cells were obtained from both cheeks, washed with physiological saline, then fixed with 80% methanol on slides, stained with Feulgen reaction and counterstained with Fast Green. From each study participant 2000 differentiated cells were analyzed. All nuclear anomalies and basal cells were analyzed under bright field and fluorescent microscope. Results: It has been shown that the frequencies of all types of nuclear anomalies were not increased significantly in indirectly exposed women. Indirect exposure to chlorine pesticides with presence of their residues in breast milk did not change the level of any nuclear anomaly in exfoliated buccal mucosa cells. Conclusion: Although the differences compared to the control do not reach statistical significance, the results show that further investigations in this area are certainly warranted with increased number of participants and more detailed biochemical analyses of the study participants.