title: Morphologic and cytomorphometric analysis of exfoliated buccal mucosal cells in diabetes patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is now known that the disease process of diabetes has effects on various tissues of the body. The following study was done to analyze the effects of diabetes on oral tissues.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the morphology and cytomorphometry of the cells obtained in cytologic smears from the buccal mucosa of diabetic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Smears were obtained from clinically normal buccal mucosa of 50 randomly selected diabetic patients attending the diabetic clinic and the out-patient department and of five healthy subjects as control. Smears were stained using Papanicolaou method, and using a micrometer mean values of nuclear diameter (ND), cell diameter (CD), cytoplasmic diameter (CyD) and nucleus: cytoplasm ratio (N: C ratio) were obtained for each patient. Diabetic patients were divided into four groups based on the glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) values for comparison.
  
  
  METHODS
  Student's T-test and Fisher's F-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant increase in ND (P=0.0367) was found in diabetic patients compared to controls. Degree of glycemic control significantly affected ND (P=0.0042) and N: C ratio (P=0.0055). In general, as the severity of diabetes increases, ND and N: C ratio rise gradually.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diabetes produces definite morphologic and cytomorphometric changes in the buccal mucosa of patients. However, further research in this direction is indicated, to analyze the significance of these findings as a tool for diabetes detection, as well as to obtain deeper insights into its effects on various tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Modern Dental College and Research Centre, Indore, India.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ramesh
authors.forename: Pd
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balamurali