Frequency of micronucleus in oral epithelial cells after exposure to mate-tea in healthy humans

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of technique simplification for cytology slides in order to evaluate the frequency of micronuclei (FMic) and conduct a experiment looking to know the FMic of oral epithelial cells of healthy volunteers exposed to mate tea (Ilex paraguarariensis). MATERIAL AND METHODS This is a laboratorial and nonrandomized trial (quasi-experiment), where the nonusers subjects were exposed to mate-tea, consumed in the traditional way, two drinks, two times a day for a single week. Two cytology of exfoliated epithelial cells were obtained before and after the mate tea exposition. RESULTS The sample was composed by 10 volunteers. The age ranged from 18 to 33 years (Mean 23; SD5.5). The use of mate tea did not showed significant variation in the FMic (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test p= .24). CONCLUSIONS The proposed technique simplification showed to be reliable, without losses when compared to the conventional technique and with the advantage of eliminate toxic substances, becoming simple and practical tool for research in dentistry. The acute exposure to mate tea did not induce an increase of FMic in exfoliated buccal cells of healthy nondrinkers and nonsmokers subjects and may not have genotoxic effect. More human studies are needed before a conclusion can be made on the oral carcinogenic risk of mate tea to humans.