Influence of the type of chewing on chronic stress in leukocyte levels

Introduction: Chewing emerges as a physiological mechanism that modulates various processes in the brain, even in the process of understanding, among these processes is stress. The objective was to determine the influence of the type of chewing on chronic stress in leukocyte levels. Material and method: 48 male Balb/c mice were used that were divided into 4 equal groups: group N (normal chewing), group NE (normal chewing + stress), group D (poor chewing) and group DE (poor chewing + stress). The leukocyte levels were evaluated at the fourth and the twelfth week of beginning the experiment. Each mouse was sacrificed to obtain the blood sample and evaluate its leukogram. Results: At the fourth week, lymphocytopenia of the DE group regarding group D and group N (p <0.05), and neutrophilia were found in the DE group regarding group D (p <0.05). At the twelfth week, lymphocytopenia and neutrophilia of the DE and NE groups were observed when compared with groups D and N (p <0.05), respectively. Conclusion: Chronic stress produces lymphocytopenia and neutrophilia, regardless of the type of chewing.