Effect of mastication on functional recoveries after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated whether solid feed is more effective for functional recoveries than liquid feed in rats with ischemic brain injury after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).


METHODS
A total of 36 male Wistar/ST rats were subjected to MCAO or sham surgery. After MCAO or sham surgery, all rats were provided liquid feed for 14 days. Then, all rats were divided into 3 groups: the solid feeding group, the liquid feeding group, and the solid feeding group of sham. Effect of mastication on functional recoveries after permanent MCAO in rats was evaluated by the limb placement test and Morris water maze (MWM) task.


RESULTS
After surgery, limb placement test scores were equal in both MCAO groups. In the acquisition trials of MWM task, statistically significant differences in escape latency were observed between the liquid feeding group and sham groups at all days, and between the solid feeding group and sham groups at days 3 and 4 of the trials. In the probe trial, statistically significant differences in time spent were observed between the liquid feeding group and sham group. On day 5 of acquisition trials, the time spent in the periphery of the pool in MWM task was significantly different among the 3 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggested that solid diet mastication could be effective for the rehabilitation of sensorimotor and learning/memory dysfunction induced by cerebral infarction.
Kawanishi
Katsuya
K
Division of Occlusion and Removable Prosthodontics, Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido School of Dentistry, Japan.
Koshino
Hisashi
H
Toyoshita
Yoshifumi
Y
Tanaka
Maki
M
Hirai
Toshihiro
T
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D056228:Feedback, Sensory / Q000502:physiology*; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric