Contribution of Endogenous Opioids to Gonadal Hormones-Induced Temporomandibular Joint Antinociception

The authors have recently demonstrated that the high serum estradiol level during the proestrus phase of the estrous cycle and that the administration of estradiol or progesterone in ovariectomized female and of testosterone in orchiectomized male rats significantly decrease formalin-induced temporomandibular joint (TMJ) nociception. In this study, the authors investigate the contribution of endogenous opioids to this antinociceptive effect of gonadal hormones in the TMJ formalin test. The opioid receptor antagonist naloxone was administrated either in the surrounding of the trigeminal sensory complex or in the TMJ region. The antinociceptive effect induced by endogenous estradiol in proestrus females and by exogenous estradiol in ovariectomized females was blocked by the administration of naloxone in the surrounding of the trigeminal sensory complex, but not in the TMJ region. The antinociceptive effect induced by the administration of progesterone in ovariectomized females and of testosterone in orchiectomized males was blocked by the administration of naloxone either in the surrounding of the trigeminal sensory complex or in the TMJ region. The authors conclude that central and peripheral opioid mechanisms mediate the antinociceptive effect of progesterone and testosterone, and central opioid mechanisms mediate the antinociceptive effect of estradiol. These findings suggest that the enhanced pain perception during low gonadal hormone periods in women and animals may be mediated by a decrease in endogenous opioid activity. This suggestion helps explain the higher severity of some pain conditions, such as temporomandibular dysfunctions in women than in men, that have no hormonal fluctuations.