International Journal of Contemporary Pathology

Diabetes Mellitus (DM), the most common endocrine metabolic disorder presents with hyper-glycemia and altered glycogen deposits in the cells due to disturbances in glucose homeostasis. The functional changes in the oral mucosa in this condition can be studied at the cellular level by using exfoliative cytology with better patient acceptability.

To study glycogen accumulation in oral exfoliative cells using a cytological smear from the buccal mucosa of Diabetes patients. Comparison of staining intensity using Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) with that of non-diabetic healthy individuals was done to establish its diagnostic role.

The study group comprised of 30 diabetic patients and 30 healthy individuals. The fasting blood sugar (FBS) level of the patients and their treatment details were recorded. Cytology smears were obtained from the normal buccal mucosa and stained with PAS. The number and the intensity of PAS positive cells among 50 normal, unfolded cells in the smear were calculated and analyzed statistically using Chi square test and Karl Pearson's test.

The average PAS positive cells were 18.53±2.9 in diabetic patients and 6.83±1.70 in healthy persons. The staining intensity varied from mild (73.4%) to moderate (26.6%) in cases and only mild (100%) in control group and showed statistically significant difference. Patients with FBS level of more than 155mg/dl showed highest PAS positivity with mean and standard deviation of 24±2.16. Comparison between FBS level and PAS positive cells was found to be statistically significant (r = 0.79; p = 0.000).

The PAS positive cells suggest that identifying the alterations in the oral mucosal cells of diabetic patients by exfoliative cytology will provide health professionals with a non-invasive tool for the screening and diagnosis of diabetes mellitus.