Comment on the Paper by Safi Oz et al. Entitled ‘Evaluation of Micronuclei, Nuclear Anomalies and the Nuclear/Cytoplasmic Ratio of Exfoliated Cervical Epithelial Cells in Genital Candidiasis'

Why an Experienced Eye May Not Detect Micronucleated Cells Using Papanicolaou's Stain

“…We appreciate having been given the opportunity to respond to the letter from Dr. Nersesyan and his colleagues [1] and also thank them for showing an interest in our article. We used Papanicolaou (Pap) stain for micronucleus (MN) evaluation in cervical cells.…”

“…According to Nersesyan et al [1], MN induction in exfoliated cervical cells occurs not because of Candida , but instead due to the inappropriate staining of exfoliated epithelial cells. Feulgen-fast green stain is favored by many investigators because of its DNA specificity [1], which is true; however, ordinary routine dyes such as Pap stain and May-Grünwald Giemsa have also been used for MN scoring [1,2,3,4].…”

“…Feulgen-fast green stain is favored by many investigators because of its DNA specificity [1], which is true; however, ordinary routine dyes such as Pap stain and May-Grünwald Giemsa have also been used for MN scoring [1,2,3,4]. …”

“…We also believe that the MN can be seen easily in a transparent cytoplasm using Pap stain. According to Nersesyan et al [1], using non-DNA-specific stains such as Pap stain might cause misleading results as a consequence of staining keratin bodies. However, with strict evaluation criteria, an experienced eye can easily distinguish keratin bodies from micronuclei in Pap smears.…”

“…Nersesyan et al [1] suggest that the MN be studied in 2,000 cells stained with DNA-specific stain or, to obtain reliable results, even 4,000 epithelial cells be evaluated. The number of exfoliated cells scored in MN analysis varies from group to group (from 500 to 3,000) [2,7,9,10].…”