Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is an underlying pathological process which leads to lower back pain (1). Whilst initial weakening of IVDs may be asymptomatic, subsequent disc herniation can cause spinal stenosis and segmental instability (2). Conservative or surgical management can alleviate clinical symptoms, but may be unable to prevent continued degeneration. As degenerative disc dis...

OBJECTIVES To examine whether collagen type I alpha1 (COLIA1) Sp1 polymorphism is associated with osteoporosis and/or intervertebral disc degeneration in older people. METHODS COLIA1 genotype was determined in 966 men and women (>/=65 years) of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. The guanine (G) to thymidine (T) polymorphism in the first intron of the COLIA1 gene was detected by PCR and M...

OBJECTIVES To record the extent and location of lumbar apophyseal cartilage damage, and to ascertain if the extent of damage is correlated with the grade of disc degeneration, age, or both. METHODS The extent and location of fibrillated areas of the apophyseal cartilage of the joint surfaces of 29 lumbar motion segments were examined using computer aided image processing of Indian ink stained...

Degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs have been recognized by pathologists for a considerable time. They were described by Wenzel (1842) and were also studied by Rokitanski (1855) and by many other pathologists. Extensive studies by Schmorl (1929), begun in Dresden in 1925 on routine autopsy material, revealed the great frequency of degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs an...

The traditional view that the etiology of lumbar disc herniation is primarily due to age, gender, occupation, smoking and exposure to vehicular vibration dominated much of the last century. Recent research indicates that heredity may be largely responsible for the degeneration as well as herniation of intervertebral discs. Since 1998, genetic influences have been confirmed by the identification...

Mesenchymal stem-cell based therapies have been proposed as novel treatments for intervertebral disc degeneration, a prevalent and disabling condition associated with back pain. The development of these treatment strategies, however, has been hindered by the incomplete understanding of the human nucleus pulposus phenotype and by an inaccurate interpretation and translation of animal to human re...

INTRODUCTION The cervical spine is comprised of seven vertebrae (C1-C7) and the corresponding intervertebral discs (IVD) that exist between two vertebral bodies. IVD act as a cushion to prevent the collision of adjacent bones or the compression of critical spinal nerves. Each intervertebral disc consists of two regions: the nucleus pulpous and annulus fibrosus. The nucleus is an incompressible,...

STUDY DESIGN The ability of lentivirus vector (LV) survivin-transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGFB3)-tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP1) on slowing disc degeneration was evaluated by an animal experiment. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of LV survivin-TGFB3-TIMP1 on slowing disc degeneration in an in vivo rabbit model. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Ce...