The histochemical profile of the human masseter. An autopsy and biopsy study.

A histochemical study has been carried out upon samples of muscle obtained from the human masseter. Sixteen specimens obtained either at autopsy or biopsy have shown that the middle and deep portions of the muscle contain fibres which in their size, histochemical staining properties and number correspond to the appearances noted in most human limb skeletal muscles. By contrast, samples taken from the superficial portion of the masseter demonstrated several unusual characteristics: these included a striking inequality of muscle fibre size in that the Type II fibres were much smaller than those of Type I but exceeded the latter in total number. This part of the muscle also contained, in 6 out of 10 samples, substantial numbers of intermediate fibres identified by myofibrillar ATPase staining. This study has confirmed that the superficial part of the human masseter is different morphologically and presumably functionally from the middle and deep parts of the muscle.