Influence of intramuscular nerve growth factor injection on the response properties of rat masseter muscle afferent fibers.

Abstract

The finding that neither rat nor human NGF excited putative nociceptive masseter afferent fibers is consistent with a previous report that intramuscular NGF injections are not acutely painful in human subjects. The ability of human NGF injection into the rat masseter muscle to induce afferent mechanical sensitization suggests that this experimental approach may be useful for the study of peripheral mechanisms of myofascial pain and tenderness associated with temporomandibular disorders.