MOLECULAR PAIN Guo et al. Molecular Pain 2010, 6:40 http://www.molecularpain.com/content/6/1/40 Open Access RESEARCH © 2010 Guo et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons At- tribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Research Long lasting pain hypersensitivity following ligation of the tendon of the masseter muscle in rats: A model of myogenic orofacial pain Wei Guo, Hu Wang, Shiping Zou, Feng Wei, Ronald Dubner and Ke Ren* Abstract Background: A major subgroup of patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders have masticatory muscle hypersensitivity. To study myofacial temporomandibular pain, a number of preclinical models have been developed to induce myogenic pain of the masseter muscle, one of the four muscles involved in mastication. The currently used models, however, generate pain that decreases over time and only lasts from hours to weeks and hence are not suitable for studying chronicity of the myogenic pain in TMJ disorders. Here we report a model of constant myogenic orofacial pain that lasts for months. Results: The model involves unilateral ligation of the tendon of the anterior superficial part of the rat masseter muscle (TASM). The ligation of the TASM was achieved with two chromic gut (4.0) ligatures via an intraoral approach. Nocifensive behavior of the rat was assessed by probing the skin site above the TASM with a series of von Frey filaments. The response frequencies were determined and an EF 50 value, defined as the von Frey filament force that produces a 50% response frequency, was derived and used as a measure of mechanical sensitivity. Following TASM ligation, the EF 50 of the injured side was significantly reduced and maintained throughout the 8-week observation period, suggesting the presence of mechanical hyperalgesia/allodynia. In sham-operated rats, the EF 50 of the injured side was transiently reduced for about a week, likely due to injury produced by the surgery. Somatotopically relevant Fos protein expression was indentified in the subnucleus caudalis of the spinal trigeminal sensory complex. In the same region, persistent upregulation of NMDA receptor NR1 phosphorylation and protein expression and increased expression of glial markers glial fibrillary acidic protein (astroglia) and CD11b (microglia) were found. Morphine (0.4-8 mg/kg, s.c.) and duloxetine (0.4-20 mg/kg, i.p.), a selective serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, produced dose-dependent attenuation of hyperalgesia. Conclusions: Ligation injury of the TASM in rats led to long-lasting and constant mechanical hypersensitivity of myogenic origin. The model will be particularly useful in studying the chronicity of myogenic pain TMJ disorders. The model can also be adapted to other regions of the body for studying pathology of painful tendinopathy seen in sports injury, muscle overuse, and rheumatoid arthritis. Background Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders are often associated with chronic pain conditions and therefore a severe health problem. A major subgroup of patients with TMJ disorders have masticatory muscle hypersensitivity [1,2]. To study myofacial temporomandibular pain, a number of models have been developed in the recent decades to induce myogenic pain of the masseter muscle, one of the four muscles involved in mastication. The alge- sic agents hypertonic saline, glutamate, serotonin, capsai- cin and nerve growth factor are injected into the masseter muscle in humans [3-8]. The inflammatory agent com- plete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) is injected into the rat masseter to produce inflammatory hyperalgesia [9-11]. Injection of glutamate, capsaicin or mustard oil into the masseter muscle produces peripheral sensitization and mechanical hyperalgesia in rats [12-15]. These models * Correspondence: kren@umaryland.edu 1 Department of Neural and Pain Sciences, Dental School; & Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article