HIV Infection Induces Morphometrical Changes on the Oral (Buccal Mucosa and Tongue) Epithelial Cells

The aim of this study was to assess morphological and morphometrical alterations of oral squamous epithelial cells in type 1 HIV infected individuals. Oral smears were collected from tongue and buccal mucosa of 30 HIV infected (experimental) and 30 non-infected (control) individuals by liquid-based exfoliative cytology. The cells were morphologically analyzed and the nuclear area (NA), the cytoplasmic area (CA) and the nucleus-to-cytoplasm area ratio (NA/CA) were calculated. No morphological differences were found between the groups. The mean values of CA were decreased in tongue (P=.00006) and buccal mucosa (P=.00242) in HIV infected individual, while mean values of NA were increased (P=.00308 and .00095, respectively) in the same group. NA/CA ratio for experimental group was increased in both collected places, with P=.00001 (tongue) and P=.00000 (buccal mucosa). This study revealed that HIV infection was able to induce morphometrical changes on the oral epithelial cells.