Results of cytological studies of smears of the buccal mucosa in elderly subjects

: Cytological studies of smear impressions from different sites of the buccal mucosa were carried out in 25 subjects (22 women and 3 men) aged 61-85 years. A group of healthy subjects aged 16-33 years were controls. Cells of different degree of differentiation are present in normal mucosa with different epithelial status: intermediate cells, mature cells with pyknotic nuclei, or surface cells without nuclei. In elderly subjects, the percentage of anuclear cells in the last stage of differentiation is increased in almost all sites of the mucosa, with the main characteristics of cytograms of young subjects retained.