Effect of liquid diet on purkinje cells in cerebellum

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Recently, it has been shown that prolonged feeding on liquid diet after being weaned impedes functional development and leads to immature mastication in growing rats. Since jaw muscle spindles play an important role in the control of jaw movements during normal masticatory function, in this study we investigated the effect of prolonged feeding on liquid diet after being weaned on the functional development of jaw-closing muscle spindles in growing rats. Soon after weaning, 40 female Wistar rats were divided into two equal groups. The control group fed on solid diet and the experimental group fed on liquid diet. At 5, 7, 9 and 11 weeks, the rats were anesthetized and the response of the masseter muscle spindles to ramp-and-hold jaw stretches were recorded from the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus. In the experimental groups, both the dynamic and the static indices were significantly lower than those of the control groups at the age of 5, 7, 9 and 11 weeks old. There was no significant change within the same group during the experimental period in both indices. These results suggest that long-term masticatory functional change due to liquid diet feeding may impede maturation of the functional properties of jaw-closing muscle spindles, leading to immature mastication in growing rats.