RESUMO
AIM: To evaluate mitotic activity in the different grades of oral epithelial dysplasia using 1% crystal violet stain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Histopathology of the Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore on a total of thirty-three cases of the Oral Epithelial Dysplasia (OED). Fresh, frozen paraffin-embedded archival tissue blocks were collected from Lahore General Hospital, Lahore & Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Nawaz Sharif Hospital, Yakki Gate, Lahore. The representative sections were taken and, after processing, mounted on glass slides and stained with H&E and crystal violet stains. The stained slides were then examined under an optical microscope. The efficacy of 1% crystal violet stain to identify mitotic figures in the different grades of oral epithelial dysplasia was assessed with the sample t-test. A difference of p < 0.05 was considered to be significant. RESULTS: A comparison of the mitotic figure count in two categories in sections stained with both stains showed a statistically significant difference. An increase in the mean mitotic count was noted in the sections of OED stained with crystal violet in comparison to the sections of OED stained with H&E which was statistically significant (p = 0.00). CONCLUSION: Counting of mitotic cell is the rapid and simplest way of evaluating the proliferative activity of cells. Crystal violet stain can be a rationalised step in the staining of mitotic figures compared to the usual H&E staining and can be employed as a selective stain during routine histopathological procedures.
RESUMO
The presence of mercury in the environment is widespread and persistent, but the extent of exposure of Pakistanis to mercury is virtually unknown. We collected toenail and scalp hair samples from 158 subjects (83 males and 75 females) residing in Lahore and its suburbs. We also conducted a questionnaire survey and personal interviews to obtain information on demographic factors, lifestyles, and socioeconomic factors, among others. Mercury concentration in hair samples was measured by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). In addition, the concentration of selenium in the toenail and hair samples was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean hair mercury concentration was 0.45 ppm (95% CI = 0.34-0.60) and did not show correlation with fish consumption, age, area of origin, or present residence. Mercury concentration was higher (p = 0.021) in females than in males, and was also higher in subjects with 11 or more years of education (p for trend = 0.013). There were 13 subjects with mercury concentration higher than 10 ppm. Most of them were young females and a few were middle-aged males. When the analysis was confined to subjects with mercury concentrations lower than 0.6 ppm, the amount of fish consumed showed correlation with hair mercury concentration with a marginal statistical significance (p = 0.065). The geometric means of selenium in hair and toenails were 0.87 and 1.01 ppm, respectively. Mercury and selenium concentrations in hair showed no correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.057, p = 0.478). This study shows that mercury exposure levels among residents in Lahore and its suburban areas are relatively low, except among outliers, wherein mercury exposure might be brought about by the use of mercury-containing soaps.
