DNA damage in Mexican women with cervical dysplasia evaluated by comet assay.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association between the progressive stage of cervical dysplasia and DNA damage by comet assay.

STUDY

DESIGN

A hospital-based, unmatched, case-control study was performed. DNA damage levels (none, low, medium and high) in the cervical epithelial cells of 31 women (10 with low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions [LSIL], 10 with high grade [HSIL] and 11 with no cervical lesion) were evaluated using the comet assay.

RESULTS

A significant increase in medium DNA damage was observed in women with HSIL (17 +/- 8.9) relative to that in the control women (9 +/- 6.1). A significant increase in high DNA damage was also observed in women with LSIL (23 +/- 15.4) or HSIL (32 +/- 13.1) relative to that in the control women (12 +/- 7.9).

CONCLUSION

These findings confirm that the grade of a cervical lesion correlates with the degree of genomic instability.