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Dietary Effects on Fiber Type Plasticity in the Masseter Muscle

Clinical and experimental studies have shown the masticatory complex (the skeletal and soft tissues associated with feeding) to be phenotypically plastic with regard to dietary material properties. Harder, tougher diets generally produce larger skeletal elements with greater bone density. However, less is known about the plasticity of the chewing musculature. Muscles are composed of two primary fiber types: slow‐twitch (type I) and fast‐twitch (type II). Fast‐twitch fibers produce rapid, powerful contractions but fatigue more quickly than slow‐twitch fibers. Here we use a rodent model to examine the plasticity of the masseter muscle fibers in response to inter‐individual variation in dietary material properties. We hypothesize that rats raised on hard, tough diets will have more fast‐twitch muscle fibers with greater cross‐sectional area, representing an increase in force production by the masseter in response to the dietary material properties.