Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in cervical smears of smokers and nonsmokers

The aim of this study was to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA (PAH-DNA) adducts in single cervical cells collected during a routine Papanicolaou smear and to relate this carcinogen exposure dose marker to smoking habit. An immunohistochemical assay, using a polyclonal antiserum raised against benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-DNA adducts, was performed to evaluate PAH-DNA adducts in cervical cells collected from 16 volunteers who smoked at least 20 cigarettes/day and 16 nonsmokers. The mean adduct level, determined as relative staining intensity by an optical density image analyzer, was significantly higher in smokers compared to nonsmokers (AOD x 1000 +/- SD = 98 +/- 32 and 73 +/- 25, respectively) (P = 0.04). These results demonstrate that this immunohistochemical assay, much simpler than other methodologies used to evaluate PAH-DNA adducts in cervical tissue, is sufficiently sensitive for quantitative adduct evaluation in single epithelial cervical cells, as already verified for other exfoliated material. This work thus confirms that tobacco smoke is a risk factor for genotoxic damage generation in cervical cells and indicates a procedure likely adaptable to a large population screening. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.