Miniature endplate currents, recorded from voltage-clamped toad sartorius muscle fibers in solutions containing ammonium ions substituted for sodium ions, were increased in amplitude and decayed exponentially with a slower time constant than in control (Na) solution. The peak conductance of miniature endplate currents was also greater in ammonium solutions. The acetylcholine null potential was ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MR imaging has been used extensively for identification and determination of chronicity of VCF. A major emphasis is placed on identification of edema or fluid clefts within the vertebral body. Little attention is given to other spinal structures such as vertebral endplate, intervertebral disk, posterior elements, and facet joints, spinal ligaments, and paraspinal musculat...

The effects of the n-alkyl derivatives of guanidine on the frog neuromuscular junction were studied using the two-microelectrode voltage clamp and other electrophysiological techniques. Methyl-, ethyl-, and propylguanidine stimulated the nerve-evoked release of transmitter. However, amyl-and octylguanidine had no apparent presynaptic action. All of the derivatives blocked the postsynaptic respo...

Background To determine the relationship between superior disc-endplate complex injury and correction loss after surgery in a group of young adult patients with a stable thoracolumbar burst fracture. Methods The study group was comprised of young adult patients who had undergone short-segment posterior fixation and bone grafting under the diagnosis of a stable thoracolumbar burst fracture fro...

BACKGROUND This study attempts to prove a cause and effect relationship between spine immobilization following posterior fixation for unstable burst fractures and degeneration observed following hardware removal. METHODS We enrolled 57 patients (259 intervertebral discs [IVDs]) who underwent only posterior instrumentation without fusion for thoracolumbar and lumbar unstable burst fractures. W...

This retrospective study investigated the impact of endplate fracture on postoperative vertebral height loss and kyphotic deformity in 144 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF), who received balloon kyphoplasty. Patients were divided into four groups: Group 1 had no superior endplate fracture, Group 2 had fractures on the anterior portion of the superior endplate, Gro...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Data on the association between vertebral endplate changes and low back pain are contradictory. This study was designed to assess whether this association exists among Southern European subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients in this study serving as cases were 35-50 years of age with low back pain lasting >90 days, for whom a lumbar MR imaging had been prescribed. Con...

Mechanical stimulation is known to regulate the calcification of endplate chondrocytes. The ANK protein has a strong influence on anti-calcification by transports intracellular inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) to the extracellular. It is known that TGF-β1 is able to induced Ank gene expression and protect chondrocyte calcification. Intermittent cyclic mechanical tension (ICMT) could induce calcifi...

Acetylcholine receptors (AChR) are organized in a discrete and predictable fashion in the postsynaptic regions of vertebrate skeletal muscle. When muscle is damaged, nerves and myofibers including muscular elements of the endplate degenerate, but the connective tissue elements survive. Muscle fibers regenerate within the basal lamina of the original myofiber. Postsynaptic differentiation in reg...