Suitability of Papanicolaou stain for micronuclei mass screening in buccal smears comparing reference feulgen stain and papanicolaou stain in field

Background: Micronuclei (MN) assessment so far was done directly, individually, and intra- and, here, inter-observer bias could not be eliminated. It was subjective. Methods: In this study, accurate and reproducible MN counting was facilitated by the use of liquid cytology and image capturing with MN identification analysis. Results: Comparing the two nuclear staining techniques - DNA specific Feulgen stain and commonly available Papanicolaou (PAP) stain we found that both techniques gave statistically comparable accurate and reproducible MN results. T-test and non-parametric followed by paired non-parametric and then Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test tell us that both the staining procedures have no difference at P Conclusion: These protocols are comparable and reproducible, and may be adoptable for mass screening to assess the genotoxic effects of substances like tobacco.