Temporomandibular disorders slow down the regeneration process of masticatory muscles: transcriptomic analysis

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are multifactorial diseases that mainly cause disorders in the temporomandibular joint and masticatory muscles. TMD affects approximately 15% of the population and causes common symptoms such as malocclusion problems, myofascial pain and migraines. The purpose of this work was to provide a transcriptomic profile using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), evaluating different mRNAs in masseter and temporal muscle samples obtained from TMD patients suffering from migraine compared to the control. The transcriptomic analysis showed prevalent downregulation of genes involved in the myogenesis process. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the muscle regeneration process in TMD patients suffering from migraines could be slowed, therefore therapeutic interventions are needed to restore TMD conditions and relieve migraine attacks.