Sexual hormone serum levels and temporomandibular disorders. A preliminary study

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of sexual hormones in a young adult population affected by articular forms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), measuring 17beta-estradiol and progesterone serum levels. In the study, we included 40 patients (20 males and 20 females) with a Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) axis I group II diagnosis of disk displacement and/or group III diagnosis of arthralgia, osteoarthritis or osteoarhrosis, and 32 healthy controls. In female patients, blood samples were collected in follicular and luteal phases of the same menstrual cycle, while only one blood sample was drawn in male patients. Serum levels of estradiol and progesterone were determined using a radioimmunoassay and the comparison between the two groups was performed using a t test. Regarding estradiol, our results showed significantly higher serum levels in patients affected by TMD than in healthy controls, both in males (p < 0.01) and in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle in females (p < 0.05), while no difference was found for progesterone serum levels. Considering the multifactorial etiology of TMD and the hypothesis that some joint tissues (e.g., bone, cartilage, collagen, proteins) could be a target for sexual hormones, these data suggest that high serum estrogen levels might be implicated in the physiopathology of TMD.