Objective: Here we tested a protocol to induce arthritis localized to the TMJ in the collagen induced arthritis (CIA) sensitive DBA/1 strain and the CIA resistant C57BL/6 strain. Methods: Acute arthritis was induced by injecting 6 μl of 5 mg/ml complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or a 50%/50% homogenate of CFA (5 mg/ml) and 2 mg/ml collagen II (CII). CFA or the homogenate of CFA and CII were injected into the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) every seven days. Control animals received no injections. Food intake and body weight were recorded before and after injection. The animals were sacrificed five days after the final injection and the blood plasma, the retrodiscal tissue and the trigeminal ganglia were isolated. IL-1β and CGRP levels were quantitated in the retrodiscal tissues and trigeminal ganglia using ELISA and RIA, respectively. Results: Two days after injecting CFA or CFA/CII a significant decrease in food intake occurred in the DBA mice but not the C57BL/6 strain. Two injections of CFA or CFA/CII significantly decreased food intake in both strains. A third injection of CFA or homogenate had no significant effect on food intake in either strain. The percent body weight change correlated to a great extent with the food intake changes. After injection of CFA or CFA/CII, IL-1β and CGRP levels increased in the retrodiscal tissue and trigeminal ganglia, respectively. Conclusions: The results suggest that acute TMJ arthritic symptoms can be initiated by CFA or a homogenate of CFA and CII and that consistent with the known CIA experiments the DBA/1 strain of mouse is more sensitive to acute arthritis administered with this protocol. We would like to thank NIH/NIDCR for their funding support T35 DE07188, DE016059, DE015372 and the Baylor Oral Health Foundation.