Is sleep bruxism related to the levels of enzymes involved in the serotonin synthesis pathway?

OBJECTIVES

This exploratory research aimed to evaluate the levels of tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) and aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (DDC), which play an important role in the serotonin synthesis pathway, in individuals with sleep bruxism (SB) diagnosed using audio-video polysomnography (vPSG) and compare them with that of individuals not presenting with SB.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included adult patients hospitalized in the Department and Clinic of Internal Medicine, Occupational Diseases, Hypertension and Clinical Oncology at the Wroclaw Medical University. The participants underwent a single-night vPSG for the evaluation of the SB parameters. Peripheral blood samples were also collected from them for estimating the serum levels of TPH1 and DDC.

RESULTS

A total of 105 patients (80 women and 25 men) were included in the study. All the patients were Caucasians and aged 18-63 years (mean age: 33.43 ± 10.8 years). Seventy-five patients (71.43%) presented with SB, of which 50 (47.62%) had severe SB, while the remaining 30 patients (28.57%) did not. No statistically significant differences in TPH1 and DDC levels were observed between the individuals with SB and without SB. A significant negative correlation was found between tonic SB episodes and DDC levels (p = 0.0012). Other correlations between the SB parameters and the levels of the studied enzymes were statistically insignificant (p > 0.05 for all comparisons).

CONCLUSIONS

The levels of the enzymes that are crucial for serotonin synthesis (TPH1 and DDC) did not seem to influence SB.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

This study provides important insights for further research on the relationship between the serotonin pathway and SB, which should take into account not only the process of serotonin synthesis but also the effect of serotonin-dependent neurotransmission on SB.