Evaluation of oral mucosa epithelium in type II diabetic patients by an exfoliative cytology method

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Diabetes mellitus is a common metabolic disease that causes chronic hyperglycemia and disturbances in carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. Although diabetes can cause considerable cellular changes, this field has attracted little research. We therefore decided to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative changes in oral epithelial cells using an exfoliative cytology method. In 30 control individuals and 30 patients with type II diabetes, smears were obtained from two distinct oral sites: the buccal mucosa and tongue dorsum. The oral smears were stained using Papanicolaou solution. Quantitative and qualitative changes were evaluated in each slide. For this purpose, 50 clearly defined cells in each slide were microscopically evaluated, and photographs were subjected to computerized morphometric analysis. Cytoplasmic and nuclear areas in the diabetic group were significantly higher than in the control group. The cytoplasmic/nuclear ratio was lower in the control group. At both smear sites, the proportion of cells with nuclear changes was higher in the diabetic group. Diabetes mellitus can cause alterations in the oral epithelium that are detectable with this exfoliative cytology method. The method may be viable in evaluating this disease. (J. Oral Sci. 50, 335-340, 2008)