Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive disease affecting upper and lower motor neurons. Feeding disorders are observed in patients with ALS. The mastication movements and their systemic effects in patients with ALS with feeding disorders remain unclear. Currently, there is no effective treatment for ALS. However, it has been suggested that treating feeding disorders and improving nutritional status may prolong the lives of patients with ALS. Therefore, this study elucidates feeding disorders observed in patients with ALS and future therapeutic agents. We conducted a temporal observation of feeding behavior and mastication movements using an open-closed mouth evaluation artificial intelligence (AI) model in an ALS mouse model. Furthermore, to determine the cause of masticatory rhythm modulation, we conducted electrophysiological analyses of mesencephalic trigeminal neurons (MesV). Here, we observed the modulation of masticatory rhythm with a prolonged open phase in the ALS mouse model from the age of 12 weeks. A decreased body weight was observed simultaneously, indicating a correlation between the prolongation of the open phase and the decrease observed. We found that the percentage of firing MesV was markedly decreased. This study partially clarifies the role of feeding disorders in ALS.
Keywords: ALS mouse model; SOD1G93A; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); feeding disorders; mastication movements; mesencephalic trigeminal neurons (MesV); patch clamp; primary sensory neurons; single-shot multibox detector (SSD).