Assessment of Genomic Instability in Operating Room Staff Using Cytokinesis Block Micronucleus Assay

SUMMARY <b>Introduction</b>: Anesthetic gases are the main pollutants in operating rooms (OR).Aim: In this study, we explored the genomic instability and nuclear division index (NDI) inOR staff with prolonged exposure to low doses of waste anesthetic gases (WAGs). <b>Material and Methods</b>: Study groups were: total 40 participants, 20 were OR staff (comprising 17 anesthesia technicians and three nurses from OR), while 20 that were not exposed to WAGs were assigned as control. The cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay(CBMN) was applied to assess genomic instability. Indicators of genomic instability weremicronucleus (MN), nuclear bud (NBUD), and nucleoplasmic bridge (NPB). NDI was used asindicator of cell kinetic. <b>Results</b>: The MN and NBUD average frequencies were significantly elevated in the operating room staff when compared to the respective controls (p&lt;0.001, p&lt;0.005). On the otherhand, NPB and NDI showed no significant differences in both groups (p&gt;0.05). Among theOR staff, a positive association in terms of correlation (r=0.57, p&lt;0.01) is reported betweenage and MN frequency. Similarly, total years of service and MN frequency (r=0.47, p&lt;0.05)were correlated. No differences in gender of operating room employees were found in MN,NPB, and NBUD frequencies (p&gt;0.05).<b>Conclusion</b>: Our results present no significant impact of WAG exposure on cell kinetics butsignificantly increased the frequency of MN and NBUD.