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Telomeric associations in cigarette smokers exposed to low levels of X-rays

Abstract:

Telomeric association (TA), i.e. fusion of chromosomes by their telomeres, pbkp_redisposes a cell to genetic instability. Because of this we investigated the effect of X-rays exposure and cigarette smoking on the frequency of TA in peripheral blood lymphocytes of exposed individuals, in order to determine if TA can be a chromosomal marker in populations exposed to these carcinogens and if there is an synergistic effect between both agents. We found that the exposed groups show a greater percentage of TA when compared with the control group (P < 0.001). However, although the percentage of metaphases with TA in the group with combined exposure (12.6%) was greater than in the others exposed groups (P < 0.05), this value was less than the sum of the two individual effects (15.1%). Our results suggest that probably there is not an additive or synergistic effect between X-rays and smoking, and that TA may be a useful cytogenetic marker for evaluating populations exposed to mutagens. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.