Methods: 25 tissue samples and 30 blood samples were obtained from female patients who underwent TMJ surgery. Patient venous blood samples were collected, centrifuged, and isolated serum was removed and quantified for IL-8 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) analysis. Likewise, patient tissue samples from hyperplastic TMJ growths were collected, lysed, and the protein content was quantified using following the Bradford method. Samples were then subjected to ELISA analyses to detect for C. trachomatis and IL-8 antigens in patient biopsies.
Results: In patient tissue samples, C. trachomatis and IL-8 antigen presentation were positively correlated with reported TMJ pain, albeit with variations prescribing to non-significance. However, in patient blood samples, IL-8 antigen revealed a positive and statistically significant correlation (*p<0.05, Student’s T-test) in patients reporting TMJ pain.
Conclusions: In both sets of patient tissue and blood samples, C. trachomatis/IL-8 antigenic presence and TMJ pain demonstrated a positive correlation. From these results, we conclude that C. trachomatis may be associated with TMJ pain as measured by IL-8 production, but that TMJ pain cannot be wholly pre-indicated by C. trachomatis infection. This work was supported by NIH GRANT NS016884 and the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at UTHSCSA.
Keywords: Bacterial, Human, Pain, Serum-plasma and TMJ