Cytomorphometric evaluation of alterations in buccal mucosal cells of smokers and non-smokers

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of smoking on buccal mucosa by using cytomorphometry. A case control study on 50 smoker subjects and 50 non-smoker controls between the age of 28 and 71 years. Buccal epithelial cells of these individuals were collected with a brush and fixed smears were stained with Papanicolaou stain and cytomorphometric analysis performed using image analysis software (Image J v 1.47). Cytomorphometric changes could be the earliest indicators of cellular alterations. There is progressive increase in nuclear parameters i.e. mean nuclear area (MNA), mean nuclear perimeter (MNP), mean of maximum nuclear diameter (Max-ND) and mean of minimum nuclear diameter(Min-ND) and decrease in ratio of cellular to nuclear parameters in smears from smokers, as compared to normal subjects. This indicates that there could be cause–effect relationship between smoking and quantitative alterations. This increase determined in nuclear parameters shows smoking-related cellular adaptation. It is possible to conclude that this adaptive change in the cell nucleus tends to be a progression towards dysplastic change.