Temporomandibular joint disease (TMD) includes a group of conditions that lead to pain and joint impairment. The prevalence of Temporomandibular joint disorder is higher among the younger population affecting about 11 million Americans costing about $4 billion per annum. There are several challenges in the current treatment and tissue engineering due to its unique morphology and confined space therefore it is important to find new treatments to stop, slow or even prevent TMD. To advance this effort, we looked at the chondroprotective effect of Resveratrol associated with cartilage breakdown. Resveratrol has anti-inflammatory, anti-catabolic, anti-apoptotic and antioxidative properties in various cell types including chondrocytes. Resveratrol has shown positive joint protective effects mainly associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines. These properties of resveratrol along with analgesic effects make it a potential therapeutic interest for the treatment of TMD.

To study the behaviors of the TMJ disc and condyle cartilage tissue, long-term and short-term in vitro culture of cartilage explants were investigated with resveratrol and cytokine attack. We hypothesized that resveratrol has positive effect on the TMJ disc and condyle cartilage. This study was done with purpose for the search of potential treatments for TMD.

In my first study, the effects of resveratrol on spontaneous [Ca2+]i signaling of the cells in both serum supplemented medium and serum-free medium (2% FBS) in the TMJ disc and condyle cartilage explant culture were compared in short-term treatment. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol known for its chondro-protective effects. The in situ imaging technique was employed and the spontaneous [Ca2+]i signaling was recorded and analyzed. The spatiotemporal parameters were also analyzed. We proved the positive effect of resveratrol on the spontaneous [Ca2+]i signaling of the cells. Many other components are responsible for the cartilage degeneration in TMJ such as cytokines. IL-1β and TNF-α, are the two pleiotropic cytokines, that play vital roles in immune reactions, inflammation, pain response and cartilage degradation /bone. Thus, in my second and third study, the effect of resveratrol was studied under the putative effect of two major cytokines, pro-inflammatory mediator interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α found in the synovial fluid of TMD patients. This is a novel study of collagen and GAG effect associated with resveratrol in TMJ disc and condyle cartilage and is targeting at proving the chondro-protective effect of resveratrol on the TMJ disc and condyle cartilage. My study demonstrated the protective effects of resveratrol on cartilage under inflammatory attack of both IL-1β and TNF-α. The resveratrol molecules are able to reduce the loss to GAG and collagen content in the tissue.

Taken together, studies performed show the positive association of resveratrol with collagen, GAG and the [Ca2+]i signaling of the cell and contribute to the further understanding of the putative effects of resveratrol in vitro behaviors of TMJ disc and condyle cartilage. We believe that resveratrol administered with right dose, might be relevant as a potential treatment for joint disorder-related symptoms in humans.