Cytological and cytometric analysis of oral mucosa in patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Background

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies have sought to identify precursor symptoms of AD and PD that occur before the onset of the disease. We evaluated changes in the oral mucosa of patients with AD and PD using a stereological method.

Patients and methods

The study included 29 patients with AD, 30 patients with idiopathic PD, and 30 healthy volunteers. Brush biopsies were obtained from all participants, and the nucleator method was used to estimate the volume of cells obtained from the buccal mucosa.

Results

Cytomorphometric analysis revealed that the nuclear volume was 484.39±117.10 µm³ in the AD group, 509.71±132.26 µm³ in PD patients, and 509.30±100.21 µm³ in the control group. The cytoplasmic volume was 115,456.60±30,664.98 µm³ in the AD group, 103,097.93±25,034.65 µm³ in PD patients, and 109,528.45±28,381.43 µm³ in the control group. The nuclear and cytoplasmic volumes were not significantly different among groups (P>0.05).

Conclusion

The cytomorphometric analysis revealed no significant differences in the cytoplasmic and nuclear volumes of buccal cells obtained from patients with AD and PD and healthy volunteers.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• exfoliative cytology
• stereology
• oral mucosa

Acknowledgments

The paper was presented as a poster at the 51st National Neurology Congress, 27 November–3 December 2015, Antalya, Turkey.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.