TYRAMINE CONJUGATION DEFICIT IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC IDIOPATHIC TEMPOROMANDIBULAR-JOINT AND OROFACIAL PAIN

This study was carried out to explore the value of the tyramine conjug ation test, an established trait marker for 'endogenous unipolar depre ssion', in patients with chronic idiopathic temporomandibular joint an d orofacial pain. Our results show that the pain patients excrete sign ificantly lower amounts of tyramine sulphate than controls (P < 0.0004 ). Psychiatric assessment by the structured clinical interview for the diagnosis of mental disorders according to DSM-III-R revealed that 48 % of the patients had a history of depression and 10% were currently d epressed. However, the never-depressed group of patients had the lowes t tyramine sulphate excretion values. These findings suggest that a co mmon biological abnormality underlies the pathogenesis of both chronic idiopathic facial pain and depression.