Methods: Twelve ICR mice used in this study were divided into two groups according to nutritional condition. One group received restricted amounts of food (low-nutrition diet group), while the other group received feed without any restriction (high-nutrition diet group). F2 mice (F1 x F1) were obtained by mating F1 (ICR x ICR) mice. The total numbers were 10 for F1 and 10 for F2 mice. All mice were killed at 47 weeks of age. Mandibular preparations were made by soaking in 1% KOH. The diameter of mandibular size between the mandibular condyle and infradental points, mandibular angle, and mandiblar ramus length were measured. Data were calculated as the mean ± standard deviation, and statistical analysis was performed with ANOVA at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: Mandibular size and angle of F1 and F2 mice were measured as 14.30 ± 0.32 mm and 101.73 ± 3.0 (high-nutrition group) and 13.65 ± 0.35 mm and 92.41 ± 3.62 (low-nutrition group), respectively. Mandibular size and angle were significantly larger in the high-nutrition group compared with those in the low-nutrition group (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences observed in mandibular ramus length.
Conclusions: The results indicate that a low-nutrition diet decreases mandibular size and angle. Based on these results, mandibular growth might be influenced by environmental factors of nutrition in two generations of mice.