Figure 3
From: Forceful mastication activates osteocytes and builds a stout jawbone
Increased mastication caused morphological change of the jawbone. Bone formation analyses in the increased mastication model. (a) Representative coronal micro-CT images of the mandibular bone of mice fed with the HD or ND. Scale bar, 1 mm. (b) Superimposition of the representative images of the mandibular bone of mice fed with the HD or ND. The dotted circle indicates the extrusion of the masseteric ridge. The blue and the red lines denote the mandibular height. (c) Schematics indicating the lengths and angles measured in the morphometric analysis. Condylion (Co), the most posterior point of the condylar head; Menton (Me), the most anterior and inferior point of the lower border of the mandibular bone; Gonion (Go), the most posterior point of the ramus; Gnathion (Gn), the most posterior and inferior point of the ramus; Gonial angle, angle between Co–Go and Gn–Me. (d) Angular and linear analyses of the mandibular bone (n = 15–16 per group). (e) Principal component analysis (PCA). 3 synthetic variables (PCo1–3) were generated from the 9 parameters obtained in (d) for dimension reduction and each mouse was plotted as a sphere (blue: ND–fed; red: HD–fed) in a three–dimensional space. The number of biological replicates used in each animal experiment was shown under the corresponding bar. Student’s t test was conducted for statistical analysis. Error bars show the mean ± s.e.m. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; n.s., not significant.
