Department of Hygiene, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Arch Toxicol. 2013 Jan;87(1):179-87. doi: 10.1007/s00204-012-0915-2. Epub 2012 Aug 8.
A large proportion of the population carries restorative dental fillings containing either classic Hg-based amalgams and/or the more frequently used methacrylates. Both Hg- and resin-based materials have been shown to be released into the buccal cavity and to be spread systemically. In addition, they induce toxic and genotoxic alterations in experimental test systems. Using the comet assay, we previously demonstrated that circulating lymphocytes of subjects with dental fillings have an increased DNA damage. Here, we analyzed the oral mucosa cells of 63 young subjects of both genders, by using both the comet assay and the micronucleus (MN) test and by monitoring cell death markers. The results obtained show that both amalgams and resin-based composite fillings can induce genotoxic damage in human oral mucosa cells, as convincingly and dose-dependently inferred from the results of the MN test and, more marginally, from comet assay data. Lifestyle variables, also including alcohol intake and smoking habits, did not affect the genotoxic response and did not act as confounding factors. Thus, we provide unequivocal evidence for the genotoxicity of both amalgams and resin-based dental fillings in humans not only by testing circulating lymphocytes but also by analyzing oral mucosa cells. These findings are of particular relevance due to the circumstance that subjects with restorative materials are exposed continuously and for long periods of time.
很大一部分人群的口腔中都含有修复性的补牙材料，其中包括经典的汞基合金和/或更常用的甲基丙烯酸酯。已经证实汞基和树脂基材料都会释放到颊腔并在全身扩散。此外，它们还会在实验测试系统中引起毒性和遗传毒性改变。我们之前使用彗星试验证明，有补牙的受试者的循环淋巴细胞的 DNA 损伤增加。在这里，我们通过彗星试验和微核（MN）试验分析了 63 名年轻受试者（无论性别）的口腔黏膜细胞，并监测了细胞死亡标志物。结果表明，汞合金和树脂基复合补牙材料都可以诱导人类口腔黏膜细胞的遗传毒性损伤，这从 MN 试验的结果以及更轻微的彗星试验数据中可以令人信服且呈剂量依赖性地推断出来。生活方式变量，包括饮酒和吸烟习惯，并没有影响遗传毒性反应，也没有作为混杂因素。因此，我们不仅通过测试循环淋巴细胞，还通过分析口腔黏膜细胞，为汞合金和树脂基牙科补牙材料在人体中的遗传毒性提供了确凿的证据。由于修复材料的受试者会持续长时间暴露，因此这些发现具有特别重要的意义。
