on the enjoyment of life. It is suggested that the endogenous opioid systems may be impaired in patients with temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ). It has been shown that TMJ patients have lower pain thresholds in the hand and increased pain sensitivity on the contralateral hand. We hypothesized that higher plasma bendorphin levels would be a correlated to lower pain thresholds in patients with TMJ. Methods: Twenty-one consecutive patients with TMJ, visiting the division for a preoperative control before surgery were included. The control group consisted of twelve healthy individuals of similar age and sex. Clinical assessment of sensory and pain thresholds were performed using the PainMatcher®. b-endorphin were measured in venous-blood. Results: In patients with TMJ low peripheral pain thresholds, both ipsilateral and contralateral were associated with higher b-endorphin levels (p < 0.05). Further, significantly higher bendorphin levels, 22.8 pmol/L were present in patients with TMJ compared to 14.5 pmol/L in healthy individuals (p < 0.005). Conclusion: The inverse association between b-endorphin levels and pain-thresholds supports the theory of a pronounced sensitization and an impaired pain inhibitory system in patients with temporomandibular joint disorder.
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