Gene Dysregulation in Peripheral Blood of Young Females With Temporomandibular Joint Osteoarthritis

Background: Early onset of the disease and female preponderance are the unique features of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis (OA). The immune modulation mechanisms related to etiology of OA from other joints such as knee or hip have been suggested, but the immune-associated pathophysiology of TMJ OA, especially in young females, has not been elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the immune-related pathophysiology of TMJ OA by analyzing transcriptional profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells which identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in young females with TMJ OA. MethodsRNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was conducted on 24 young females with TMJ OA (mean age 19.3 ± 3.1 years) (RNAOA) and 11 age and sex matched healthy control (mean age 20.5 ± 3.7 years) (CON). RNA-seq datasets were analyzed to identify genes, pathways, and regulatory networks of those who were involved in the development of TMJ OA. ResultsRNA-seq data analysis revealed 41 DEGs between RNAOA and CON. A total of 16 gene ontology (GO) terms including 3 molecular and 13 biological terms were annotated via the GO function of molecular function and biological process. Through ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA), 21 annotated categories of diseases and functions were identified. There were six hub genes which showed significant results in both GO enrichment analysis and IPA, namely HLA-C, HLA-F, CXCL8, IL11RA, IL13RA1, and FCGR3B. ConclusionsThe young females with TMJ OA showed alterations of the gene related to immune function in the blood and some of the changes may reflect inflammation, auto-reactivity, and altered T cell functions.