The Yucatan Minipig Temporomandibular Joint Disc Structure-Function Relationships Support Its Suitability for Human Comparative Studies.

ABSTRACT: Frequent involvement of the disc in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders warrants attempts to tissue engineer TMJ disc replacements. Physiologically, a great degree of similarity is seen between humans and farm pigs (FPs), but the pig's rapid growth confers a significant challenge for in vivo experiments. Minipigs have a slower growth rate and are smaller than FPs, but minipig TMJ discs have yet to be fully characterized. The objective of this study was to determine the suitability of the minipig for TMJ studies by extensive structural and functional characterization. The properties of minipig TMJ discs closely reproduced previously reported morphological, biochemical, and biomechanical values of human and FP discs. The width/length dimension ratio of the minipig TMJ disc was 1.95 (1.69

SUBMITTER: Vapniarsky N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5689122 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature