Diagnostic possibilities of studying the buccal epithelium in the elderly with cognitive impairments

Background. Intravital molecular diagnostics of the buccal (oral cavity) epithelium, performed to determine the influence of environmental factors on the human body, serves as an indicator of body aging. Objective: to evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of cytological examination of the buccal epithelium in elderly patients with cognitive disorders. Material and Methods. Using clinical-psychopathological, neuropsychological, laboratory and statistical methods, a total sample of patients (n=24) aged 59 to 83 years (mean age 76.25±4.89 years) was examined. Two groups were identified, fully comparable in size and age: the main group (n=12) - patients with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease with a predominance of women over men (10 vs. 2); control (n=12) - patients without cognitive decline, also with a predominance of women over men (10 versus 2). Results. According to a comparative study of the state of the buccal epithelium in 12 patients with Alzheimer's dementia and 12 patients without cognitive impairment, correlations were found between the main cytological changes in the buccal epithelium and the results obtained during neuropsychological testing using the MMSE and ADAS-COG cognitive scales. The study is associated with the assumption of a common ectodermal origin of the nervous tissue and buccal epithelium, which may be due to systemic pathological changes in the tissues of a single germinal embryonic layer. The results obtained indicate the specificity of pathological changes in the buccal epithelium in Alzheimer's disease, which makes it possible to use the study of biological material to obtain additional diagnostic markers of the disease.