Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology
Published on: August 22, 2022
Increased risk of temporomandibular joint closed lock: a case-control study of ANKH polymorphisms
Boyen Huang1, Katsu Takahashi, Tomoko Sakata
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
Objectives:
This study aimed to carry out a histological examination of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in ank mutant mice and to identify polymorphisms of the human ANKH gene in order to establish the relationship between the type of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and ANKH polymorphisms.
Materials And Methods:
Specimens from the TMJ of ank mutant and wild-type mice were inspected with a haematoxylin and eosin staining method. A sample of 55 TMD patients were selected. Each was examined with standard clinical procedures and genotyping techniques.
Results:
The major histological finding in ank mutant mice was joint space narrowing. Within TMD patients, closed lock was more prevalent among ANKH-OR homozygotes (p = 0.011, OR = 7.7, 95% CI 1.6-36.5) and the elder (p = 0.005, OR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.3).
Conclusions:
Fibrous ankylosis was identified in the TMJ of ank mutant mice. In the human sample, ANKH-OR polymorphism was found to be a genetic marker associated with TMJ closed lock. Future investigations correlating genetic polymorphism to TMD are indicated.
