Anahit H. Hovhannisyan

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio | UT HSC

Myogenous temporomandibular disorders is associated with an increased responsiveness of nerves innervating the masseter (MM), temporal (TM), and lateral pterygoid muscles (LPM). This study aimed to examine sensory nerve types innervating MM, TM and LPM of adult non-human primate—common marmosets. Sensory nerves were localized in specific regions of...

Gene plasticity during myogenous temporomandibular disorder (TMDM) development is largely unknown. TMDM could be modeled by intramuscular inflammation or tissue damage. To model inflammation induced TMDM we injected complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) into masseter muscle (MM). To model tissue damage induced TMDM we injected extracellular matrix degra...

Non-neuronal cells constitute 90%–95% of sensory ganglia. These cells, especially glial and immune cells, play critical roles in the modulation of sensory neurons. This study aimed to identify, profile, and summarize the types of trigeminal ganglion (TG) non-neuronal cells in naïve male mice using published and our own data generated by single-cell...

Non-neuronal cells constitute 90-95% of sensory ganglia. These cells play critical roles in modulation of nociceptive signal transmissions by sensory neurons. Accordingly, the aim of this review-study was to identify, profile and summarize TG non-neuronal cell types in naive male mice using published and our own data generated by single-cell RNA se...

Several gaps in knowledge exists in our understanding of orofacial pain. Some of these include type of peripheral sensory innervation in specific tissues, differences in innervation between sexes and validation of rodent studies in higher order species. The current study addresses these gaps by validating mouse studies for sensory innervation of to...

Biological processes linked to intramuscular inflammation during myogenous temporomandibular disorder (TMDM) are largely unknown. We mimicked this inflammation by intra-masseteric muscle (MM) injections of complete Freunds adjuvant (CFA) or collagenase type 2 (Col), which emulates tissue damage. CFA triggered mechanical hypersensitivity at 1d post-...

Myogenous temporomandibular disorders (TMD-M) are the most prevalent group of painful orofacial conditions, and the second most frequent among musculoskeletal pain conditions. TMD-M is associated with an increased responsiveness of nerves innervating the masseter (MM), temporal (TM), medial pterygoid closing (MPM) and lateral pterygoid gliding musc...

Pain development and resolution patterns in many diseases are sex-dependent. This study aimed to develop pain models with sex-dependent resolution trajectories, and identify factors linked to resolution of pain in females and males. Using different intra-plantar (i.pl.) treatment protocols with prolactin (PRL), we established models with distinct,...

Trigeminal (TG), dorsal root (DRG), and nodose/jugular (NG/JG) ganglia each possess specialized and distinct functions. We used RNA sequencing of two-cycle sorted Pirt-positive neurons to identify genes exclusively expressing in L3–L5 DRG, T10-L1 DRG, NG/JG, and TG mouse ganglion neurons. Transcription factor Phox2b and Efcab6 are specifically expr...

Objective Migraine is three times more common in women. CGRP plays a critical role in migraine pathology and causes female‐specific behavioral responses upon meningeal application. These effects are likely mediated through interactions of CGRP with signaling systems specific to females. Prolactin (PRL) levels have been correlated with migraine atta...

Sensory neurons exhibit sex‐dependent responsiveness to prolactin (PRL). This could contribute to sexual dimorphism in pathological pain conditions. The aim of this study is to elucidate mechanisms underlying sex‐dependent PRL sensitivity in sensory neurons. Quantitative RT‐PCR show that prolactin receptor (Prlr) long and short isoform mRNAs are ex...

Peptidergic sensory neurons play a critical role in nociceptive pathways. To precisely define the function and plasticity of sensory neurons in detail, new tools such as transgenic mouse models are needed. We employed electrophysiology and immunohistochemistry to characterize in detail dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons expressing an inducible CGRP...