ABSTRACT
Objective@#This study aimed to establish an animal model of oral dysphagia for translational research purposes. @*Methods@#Four week old C57BL/6 mice were randomized to a surgical partial glossectomy group (horizontal resection, n=13 vs. vertical resection, n=15) and a nonsurgical group (control, n=7). The survival rate, mouse weight, amount of food, and water consumption were compared. Comparisons were made using a Kruskall Wallis test, and survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method. @*Results@#Eleven of the 13 (84.6%) horizontal resection animals and 11 of the 15 (73.3%) vertical resection animals survived to the study endpoint. Compared to the non-surgical control mice, the mice that had undergone a horizontal and vertical resection had a significantly lower mean body weight (P＜0.05) during experimental day (ED) 5, with the greatest dysphagia observed in ED 2. The horizontal resection-type mice showed greater mean body weight loss and food consumption in the early stages of the experiment than the vertical resection-type mice. In contrast, the horizontal resection-type mice showed greater body weight gain and food consumption in the late stages of the experiment. @*Conclusion@#This study provides novel evidence that the proper timing for an animal model of oral dysphagia was within ED 5; severe dysphagia was observed in ED 2. The horizontal-type partial glossectomy had a better survival rate than the vertical-type model. Furthermore, the prolonged dysphagia model mimics the vertical resection-type mice.