Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of estrogen on the synthesis of cytokines of the temporomandibular joint cells.
Methods: Mandibular condyles of 10 mice were resected. Twenty of these condylar cartilages were removed and placed in organ culture for 24 hours with media containing different concentrations of 17beta-estradiol. The chondroblasts from the mandibular condyles of 3 mice were cultured with different concentrations of 17beta-estradiol the same as above. Cytokine concentrations were measured by ELISA.
Results: The expression and concentration of IL-1 beta, IL-6, and IL-8 were increased with increasing concentration of 17beta-estradiol. The expression and concentration of IL-4 and IL-10 were not different from the control and experimental group.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that estrogen has the potential to cause temporomandibular joint disease with induction of the proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and IL-8.