Abstract
In recent years, biochemical analyses of synovial fluid (SF) in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) have been conducted. The authors of those studies suggested that the inflammatory mediators and the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) play a role in TMJ disorders. In joint-degenerating disease like arthritis, MMP have been reported to possibly be involved in the cartilage degeneration. MMP activity in SF collected from the TMJ was detected by using an easy assay system with fluorescent peptides (NFF-2 and NFF-3) as a specific substrate for MMP. How MMP proteins contribute to the enzyme activity was investigated by using enzymography with gelatin and Western blot analysis. As a result, the fluorogenic assay showed that some MMP activities were highly increased in SF isolated from patients with inflammatory signs. Pro MMP-1, active MMP-2, pro MMP-3 and active MMP-3 in the SF were by using Western blot analysis. The active MMP-2 was detected in nearly all. SFs tested. The active form of MMP-3 was detected in SFs isolated from TMJ in which synovitis was confirmed by arthroscopy. The existence of active MMP-3 correlated with the increase in activity of the MMP. Thus it was concluded that MMP-2 and MMP-3 serve as markers to early degenerative changes in the TMJ articular cartilage.
