Assessment of Genotoxicity in Females with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Insights from the Ahmedabad Region

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine disorder affecting women’s health, yet its cellular implications remain underexplored. The buccal cytome assay provides a non-invasive means to detect oxidative stress-induced genotoxicity by visualizing and quantifying cellular anomalies. Buccal mucosal cells from 40 participants (20 diagnosed with PCOS, 20 control females) were analyzed using cytological staining and light microscopy to assess nuclear and cytoplasmic changes. Eight distinct cell abnormalities were identified based on their morphology, including nuclear bud, binucleates, karyorrhexis, pyknotic cells, karyolysis, condensed chromatin, and micronucleated cells. The frequencies of cells with condensed chromatin, karyorrhectic cells, pyknotic cells, and karyolytic cells were significantly higher in the case group compared to the control group. These findings support buccal cytometry as a promising diagnostic adjunct for PCOS, warranting further large-scale validation. Poor lifestyle habits such as high-fat diets or sedentary behaviors increase oxidative stress, which creates genotoxicity by damaging DNA and chromosomal structures, disrupting repair mechanisms, and inducing cell death. Hence, the buccal cytome assay is a tool for assessing the impact of oxidative stress and identifying early markers of PCOS.