Regionally variant collagen alignment correlates with viscoelastic properties of the disc of the human temporomandibular joint.

Objective: To determine the regionally variant quality of collagen alignment in human TMJ discs and its statistical correlation with viscoelastic properties.

Design: For quantitative analysis of the quality of collagen alignment, horizontal sections of human TMJ discs with Pricrosirius Red staining were imaged under circularly polarized microscopy. Mean angle and angular deviation of collagen fibers in each region were analyzed using a well-established automated image-processing for angular gradient. Instantaneous and relaxation moduli of each disc region were measured under stress-relaxation test both in tensile and compression. Then Spearman correlation analysis was performed between the angular deviation and the moduli. To understand the effect of glycosaminoglycans on the correlation, TMJ disc samples were treated by chondroitinase ABC (C-ABC).

Results: Our imaging processing analysis showed the region-variant direction of collagen alignment, consistently with previous findings. Interestingly, the quality of collagen alignment, not only the directions, was significantly different in between the regions. The angular deviation of fiber alignment in the anterior and intermediate regions were significantly smaller than the posterior region. Medial and lateral regions showed significantly bigger angular deviation than all the other regions. The regionally variant angular deviation values showed statistically significant correlation with the tensile instantaneous modulus and the relaxation modulus, partially dependent on C-ABC treatment.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest the region-variant degree of collagen fiber alignment is likely attributed to the heterogeneous viscoelastic properties of TMJ disc that may have significant implications in development of regenerative therapy for TMJ disc.