CircRNA Expression Profiling of the Rat Thalamus In Temporomandibular Joint Chronic Inflammatory Pain

Differential expression of circular RNAs (DEcircRNAs) in the thalamus, a relay station of the orofacial pain transmission pathway, may play an important role in inflammation and inflammatory pain progression in TMJOA and serve as a potential marker for its targeting. In this study, we obtained the expression profile of circRNAs from the thalamus of the rat TMJOA model by high-throughput sequencing to explore the potential role of circRNA in TMJOA inflammation and chronic inflammatory pain progression and their potential as new targeted molecular markers. Additionally, providing new clues to unravel the molecular mechanisms of chronic orofacial pain, providing insights into the potential roles of circRNAs in pain modulation, and paving the way for future research in this area. Overall design: To explore the mechanisms of chronic orofacial pain, we established a 14-day TMJOA chronic inflammatory pain model in rats and tested their orofacial mechanical pain thresholds. Six rats were randomly divided into CFA and CON groups and injected bilaterally into the temporomandibular joints with 50uL CFA and saline (n=3),Injections twice a week to maintain chronic inflammatory pain states. Thalamus was obtained for circRNA high-throughput sequencing to obtain expression profiles after 14 days, and KEGG and GO analyses of DEcircRNAs were performed, and miRanda software was used to predict the binding sites of the sheared circRNAs. miRNA binding sites were predicted by miRanda software, and it was determined that thalamic DEcircRNAs broadly regulate TMJOA inflammation and chronic inflammatory pain through several potential mechanisms.