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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Oral Health Promotion
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1372494
This article is part of the Research Topic Effects of Tobacco Use on Oral Health View all 7 articles

Higher Reactive Oxygen Species and cellular aging in oral mucosal cells of young smokers: A comparative analytical study

Provisionally accepted
Bushra Imdad Bushra Imdad 1Uzair Abbas Uzair Abbas 1*Pershad Kumar Pershad Kumar 2Durre Sameen Kamran Durre Sameen Kamran 1Mahtab Khan Mahtab Khan 1Niaz Hussain Niaz Hussain 3
  • 1 Dow University of Health Sciences, karachi, Pakistan
  • 2 Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
  • 3 Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background Cigarette smoke contains chemical components that cause excessive production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), altering cell physiology and affecting key pathways. This leads to hyperinflammation, DNA damage, and cellular aging, which may cause oral and pulmonary pathologies. Our study aims to investigate the impact of smoking on ROS levels and cellular aging in oral mucosal cells. We compared Reactive oxygen Species and cellular aging between smokers and non-smokers. Secondarily, we also compared the results between young and old smokers.Methods:Oral swabs were taken from 50 smokers and 50 nonsmokers using a cytology brush. We quantified the reactive oxygen species (ROS) by using oxidized 2'7' dichlorodihydrofluorescein-diacetate (DCFH-DA) dye and through cytometry. To assess cellular aging, mRNA levels of the CYR61 gene-a cellular aging marker, were compared through RT-PCR.Results: It was found that smokers had a higher percentage of ROS in comparison to non-smokers (p value < 0.001). Additionally, there was an over-expression of the CYR61 gene in smokers as compared to non-smokers (p value = 0.001). Furthermore, when comparing ROS and cellular aging between young smokers and old smokers, it was noted that there was a significantly higher percentage of ROS and up-regulation of mRNA levels of CYR61 gene in young smokers in comparison to old smokers (p value 0.001 and <0.0001 respectively).Conclusion:It has been observed that smokers have a higher amount of ROS production and cellular aging in their oral mucosal cells. In young smokers, ROS and cellular aging were found to be higher compared to older smokers. This is quite concerning and could be a major factor leading to oral pathologies in smokers.

    Keywords: Smoking, Reactive Oxygen Species, cellular aging, Young smokers, Mucosal cell

    Received: 18 Jan 2024; Accepted: 30 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Imdad, Abbas, Kumar, Kamran, Khan and Hussain. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Uzair Abbas, Dow University of Health Sciences, karachi, Pakistan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.