The nucleus pulposus is a key player in very early disc degeneration. In the young disc, by acting as a water-like fluid, as opposed to a solid, it resists compression and instantaneously distributes forces evenly in all directions to the inner annulus. The disc anlage notochordal cells contribute not only to how the disc develops, but also to the matrix of the young disc at a time when the nuc...

Axial MR images of 65 lumbar disks with herniated nucleus pulposus imaged by gradient-refocused-echo (GRE) and spin-echo (SE) MR pulse sequences of 200-400/15 with a flip angle of 15-30 degrees was selected as optimal because of its high signal-to-noise ratio and good contrast between CSF, nucleus pulposus, and bone. The GRE technique was confirmed to be more sensitive in detecting prolapsed di...

Purpose: To explore the inhibitory effect and mechanism of action CXCR4 on intervertebral disc degeneration.Methods: The expression was assessed in different degrees degenerate tissues. Nucleus pulposus (NP) cells-induced degeneration were obtained using interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) stimulation. inhibitor, AMD 3100, employed to resist function CXCR4, order determine whether inhibition acted by ta...

OBJECTIVE To describe clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features in dogs with compressive cervical myelopathy due to acute suspected hydrated nucleus pulposus extrusion. DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS Ten dogs with compressive cervical myelopathy caused by acute suspected hydrated nucleus pulposus extrusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS Medical records and magnetic resonance ima...

Introduction Low back and radicular pain induced by lumbar disc herniation are a major clinical problem with huge monetary. The study of low back pain has been hindered, until recently, by the absence of an adequate animal model. Recently we have reported applying nucleus pulposus tissue, obtained from tail intervertebral discs that had been subjected to chronic mechanical compression, to the l...

For back disorders, cell therapy is one approach for a real regeneration of a degenerated nucleus pulposus. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) could be differentiated into nucleus pulposus (NP)-like cells and used for cell therapy. Therefore it is necessary to find a suitable biocompatible matrix, which supports differentiation. It could be shown that a differentiation of hMSC in a microbial t...