Gut microbiome metabolite butyrate relieves chronic jaw joint pain

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260518/Gut-microbiome-metabolite-butyrate-relieves-chronic-jaw-joint-pain.aspx Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain is associated with disrupted gut microbiome metabolites. Researchers reveal that butyrate, administered as tributyrin, alleviates pain by restoring histone acetylation and reversing gene regulatory changes in the brain. The team identified key genes involved in pain modulation, such as Nop14 using a mouse model as well as single-cell multi-omics sequencing. Targeting butyrate-related epigenetic pathways may offer a promising non-opioid strategy for treating TMJ pain.