Nuclear Features in Different Grades of Epithelial Dysplasia

Abnormalities in nuclear morphology are very frequently seen in dysplasias, such as nuclear area, diameter, shape, number of nucleoli and membrane outline. The purpose of this study was to observe and compare the nuclear features in different grades of epithelial dysplasia in leukoplakia and to evaluate the use of Feulgen stain for staining and observing the nuclear features in oral epithelial dysplasia in leukoplakia. 70 paraffin embedded tissue section (20 mild, 20 moderate, 20 severe and 10 control specimen) were analyzed for nuclear morphology using Feulgen stain in trinocular research microscope. Statistically significant results were obtained with p>0.001, when intergroup comparison was done except in case of nuclear area and diameter between mild and moderate dysplasia. Nuclear features reflects cells biological potential and its morphometry was found to be a useful tool for differentiating different grades of dysplasia.