Lifestyle Factors and Genetic Damage: A Comprehensive Cellular Review

We describe the impact of lifestyle related factors on the formation of micronuclei (MN) in buccal cells. It is known that consumption of alcohol and of other drugs including tobacco and other plants cause damage of the genetic material and leads to adverse health effects. Overall, 235 articles were evaluated in total. Tobacco smoking, i.e. consumption of cigarettes (75 publications), water pipes (OECD (2023) In Vitro Mammalian Cell Micronucleus Test. OECD, Paris) and crack smoking (Ravanat, J.L., Cadet, J., and Douki, T. (2012) Oxidatively generated DNA lesions as potential biomarkers of in vivo oxidative stress. Curr Mol Med, 12, 655-671) caused mainly positive effects, while negative results were obtained with pure marijuana (WHO (2025) Preventing cancer. WHO, Geneva). Chewing habits (smokeless tobacco (Wultsch, G., Nersesyan, A., Misik, M., Ferk, F., Schelch, K., Scharnagl, M., Grusch, M., and Knasmuller, S. (2025) The Micronucleus Assay in Exfoliated Buccal Cells for Occupational Exposure Studies: An Overview. Mutagenesis) and betel with and without tobacco (Fenech, M., Holland, N., Zeiger, E., Chang, P.W., Kirsch-Volders, M., Bolognesi, C., Stopper, H., Knudsen, L.E., Knasmueller, S., Nersesyan, A., Thomas, P., Dhillon, V., Deo, P., Franzke, B., Andreassi, M.G., Laffon, B., Wagner, K.H., Norppa, H., da Silva, J., Volpi, E.V., Wilkins, R., and Bonassi, S. (2024) Objectives and achievements of the HUMN project on its 26th anniversary. Mutat Res Rev Mutat Res, 794, 108511) caused induction of MN in cells from the oral cavity (numbers indicate the number of publications). A study concerning khat chewing yielded a positive finding while reduction of MN was seen in consumers of coca leaves. Investigations concerning the effects of alcohol (OECD (2023) In Vitro Mammalian Cell Micronucleus Test. OECD, Paris), meat consumption (Huang, R., and Zhou, P.K. (2021) DNA damage repair: historical perspectives, mechanistic pathways and clinical translation for targeted cancer therapy. Signal Transduct Target Ther, 6, 254) and studies concerning the impact of the body mass index and body fat (Mateuca, R.A., Decordier, I., and Kirsch-Volders, M. (2012) Cytogenetic methods in human biomonitoring: principles and uses. Methods Mol Biol, 817, 305-334) led to inconsistent results. No evidence of MN induction was observed in studies on continuous physical exercise (WHO (2025) Preventing cancer. WHO, Geneva). Furthermore, exhaustive sporting activities also showed no indications of chromosomal damage (WHO (2025) Preventing cancer. WHO, Geneva). A number of studies (in total 22) was realized to investigate the effects of mobile phone specific radiation. The exposure was not adequately assessed in these investigations with questionnaires, furthermore, frequently inadequate stains (DNA-unspecific) were used (OECD (2023) In Vitro Mammalian Cell Micronucleus Test. OECD, Paris). The findings are controversial, and a clear negative result was obtained in a recent controlled intervention study. Overall the results indicate that the MN assay with buccal cells can be used to monitor chromosomal damage caused by smoking and chewing habits and to predict adverse health effects in the respiratory system and on the upper gastrointestinal tract. To draw firm conclusions about the effects of nutrition, mobile phone use, physical exercise, and body weight, further well-controlled trials are needed.