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Equine temporomandibular joint disease: Are we chasing ghosts ?
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Diseases of the equine temporomandibular joint (TMJ) are rarely reported and yet temporomandibular disorders (of which TMJ disease is one variant) are common in humans. The disorder in humans can be caused by a number of etiologies (trauma, sepsis, degenerative arthropathies, dental malocclusions and myofacial disorders), the result of which is that there are myriad clinical manifestations, ranging from headache, jaw and muscle pain to an inability to open or close the jaw. Given that the actual cause of the condition can be nebulous, the diagnostic investigations can be extensive and include clinical, radiographic and computed tomographic (or MRI) evaluation as well as arthrocentesis of the TMJ. Assessment of the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in synovial fluid have been made in an effort to categorize, quantify and prognosticate as to the degree of joint inflammation.
Under pasture conditions a horse may graze up to 21 hours per day and yet the prevalence of disease is perceived to be low. So low in fact that it is extremely difficult to secure funding to research this condition. The human and equine TMJ is a unique, load-bearing, synovial joint. The surface of the mandibular condyle and the mandibular fossa of the temporal bone are covered by fibrocartilage and not hyaline cartilage as found in the appendicular joints. Given the similarities in the anatomy of the joint, the lack of overt disease in the horse is intriguing. Superficially the difference in the frequency of osteoarthritis noted between other joints of the appendicular skeleton and the equine TMJ are notable, and yet not altogether surprising. Murine models have demonstrated that chondrocytes from the mandibular condyle and those from the stifle are phenotypically different. Equine researchers have demonstrated that the equine TMJ responds differently to induced inflammation than the metacarpophalangeal joint and that TMJ inflammation significantly alters the biomechanics of mastication in the horse. [...]
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