Correlation between fasting blood sugar and cytomorphometric values of diabetic patient's buccal mucosa exfoliative cytology.

Objectives: Type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) has considerable prevalence in India. A noninvasive diagnostic tool will be more appropriate in conditions like DM. In this study, we intend to find a difference in cytomophometric values, and glycogen accumulation (if any) in buccal mucosa exfoliated cells of type-2 DM patients when compared to nondiabetic healthy individuals, and establish its diagnostic role.

Methodology: In the present study, 36 known DM patients with at least 1-year history (case group) and 36 healthy, age- (5 year interval) -matched patients (control group) were included in the study. Patients with any other systemic disease were excluded from the study. Buccal mucosa exfoliative cytology smears were prepared from all 72 patients and stained with Papanicolaou (PAP) stain. The cytomorphometric analysis was performed to evaluate nuclear area (NA), cytoplasmic area (CA), and cytoplasm to nuclear area ratio (CNR) of cells in the smear. The data were tabulated and statistically analyzed using Chi-square test, Student's t-test, Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient and significance (two tailed) test.

Results: Statistically significant difference was found in NA and CNR in exfoliative cytology of DM patient group when compared to control group. Fasting blood sugar of DM patients was significantly correlated with NA and CNR of buccal mucosa exfoliated cells.

Conclusion: The cytomorphometric changes in exfoliated buccal mucosa cells of type-2 DM patients can have a diagnostic value which needs to be explored further.