Stress relieving action by chewing, suppresses : verification of the function of oxytocin

• Project/Area Number: 16K20607
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Surgical dentistry
• Research Institution: Jichi Medical University
• Principal Investigator: yamashita masako 自治医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (70569946)
• Research Collaborator: SASAGURI Kenichi
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
• Keywords: ストレス / 咀嚼 / pERK / 視床下部 / chewing / オキシトシン / Chewing

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Hypothalamic and amygdaloidal blood flow and O2 levels increased in rat brains during the chewing under immobilization stress. The expression of the stress-induced increase of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase(pERK) was examined by immunohistological as a marker of stress response. Stress increased the positive cells early in the hypothalamic the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. Chewing stress prevented the stress-induced increase of pERK immunoreactive cells in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus　with statistical significances. Chewing stress　prevented the stress-induced increase of pERK-immunoreactive cells in the Anterior cingulate cortex 　with statistical significances. Chewing stress would lead to increased blood flow , the activation of stress-suppressing cells may alleviate the stress response.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

脳内における摂食による摂食抑制とストレス作用について生理学的に解明した研究で、摂食と咀嚼の関係についても明らかにするもので独自性があり、学術的意義あるだけでなく社会的にも価値が高い。