Immunocytochemical expression of AE1/AE3 and cytokeratin 20 in the urinary cells of cigarette smokers in South-West Nigeria

Background: Cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important risk factor for some cancers and the second leading risk factor for death in the world. This study was conducted to evaluate the immunocytochemical expression of AE1/AE3 and cytokeratin 20 (CK20) in the urinary cells of cigarette smokers in South-West, Nigeria. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 250 cigarette smokers and 200 noncigarette smokers in South-West, Nigeria. A questionnaire was administered to subjects before specimen collection. About 10 ml of urine samples were collected from every subject into a clean sterile universal bottle, thereafter transferred into a clean test tube and spun with a cytocentrifuge for the use of staining with immunocytochemical biomarkers (AE1/AE3 and CK20). Results: Immunocytochemical staining carried out on the urine smears of cigarette smokers revealed that 2.8% of the samples expressed AE1/AE3, while 1.1% expressed CK20. None of the urinary smears of nonsmokers expressed AE1/AE3 and CK20. Furthermore, being cigarette smokers did not strongly influence the expression of AE1/AE3 and CK20 in the urine of cigarette smokers. Conclusion: Based on the outcome of this study, cigarette smoking has been seen to be one of the leading causes of renal diseases and one of the major causes of cancer among cigarette smokers.