Buccal cells

Buccal micronucleus frequency is associated with age in Down syndrome

F. L. S. Ferreira, Prá, D., Martino-Roth, M. G., and Garcias, G. L., Buccal micronucleus frequency is associated with age in Down syndrome, vol. 8, pp. 1231-1237, 2009.

Down syndrome has been linked to premature aging and genomic instability. We examined the frequency of micronucleus (MN) and binucleated cells in the oral mucosa of Down syndrome patients and healthy controls matched by age and gender, addressing the effect of age and family income. Down syndrome individuals had an increased number of MN (14.30 ± 9.35 vs 4.03 ± 1.71; P 0.001) and binucleated cells (0.97 ± 1.3 vs 0.33 ± 0.66; P 0.05) per 2000 cells.

Screening for fragile X syndrome among Brazilian mentally retarded male patients using PCR from buccal cell DNA

D. M. Christofolini, Lipay, M. V. N., Ramos, M. A. P., Brunoni, D., and Melaragno, M. I., Screening for fragile X syndrome among Brazilian mentally retarded male patients using PCR from buccal cell DNA, vol. 5, pp. 448-453, 2006.

Fragile X syndrome is one of the most frequent causes of mental retardation. Since the phenotype in this syndrome is quite variable, clinical diagnosis is not easy and molecular laboratory diagnosis is necessary. Usually DNA from blood cells is used in molecular tests to detect the fragile X mutation which is characterized by an unstable expansion of a CGG repeat in the fragile X mental retardation gene (FMR1). In the present study, blood and buccal cells of 53 mentally retarded patients were molecularly analyzed for FMR1 mutation by PCR.

Subscribe to Buccal cells