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...

INTRODUCTION The cells of the embryonic notochord play an important role in formation of the spinal column, including the intervertebral discs (IVDs) (1). These cells become trapped inside the annulus fibrosus and reside within the nucleus pulposus at birth, but are generally lost during aging and replaced by small chondrocyte-like cells. The age at which the notochordal cells are lost varies s...

Bovine nucleus pulposus has been found to be a good source of a series of proteinpolysaccharides containing chondroitin 6-sulfate and keratan sulfate. Six distinct fractions have been separated, totaling 40 % of the dry weight of the tissue. Each fraction contains protein, chondroitin B-sulfate, and keratan sulfate, but the proportions of these components are different in each fraction. Of thes...

Spontaneous regression of herniated nucleus pulposus has not been previously documented. Reported here are 11 patients in whom there was unequivocal regression or disappearance of a herniated lumbar disk on follow-up CT study. Two patients with herniated disks were without symptoms. In the nine patients with symptoms, those attributed to the original herniation disappeared or were diminished in...

(1) Background: Low back pain (LBP) is often associated with intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Autochthonous progenitor cells isolated from the center, i.e., nucleus pulposus, of IVD (so-called pulposus (NPPCs)) could be a future cell source for therapy. The NPPCs were also identified to positive angiopoietin-1 receptor (Tie2). Similar hematopoietic stem cells, Tie2 might involved in per...

Dear editor: We present two cases of high signal intervetebral disc in T1-weighted MRI with the differential diagnoses. The first case was a 60-year-old obese man who presented with back pain. The patient underwent an MR examination with a 0.3T permanent scanner (Hitachi, IRIS-II Japan). Spin–echo T1W, T2W images in orthogonal planes and STIR sequences were also obtained (Fig. 1). Hypersignal i...

It is well recognized that the intervertebral disc is composed of a nucleus pulposus, an annulus fibrosus, and a cartilage plate and may play a very important role in spinal stability and kinetics. Degeneration by aging of the lumbar intervertebral disc has been implicated as an important causal factor in the development of low back pain. This study has been undertaken to evaluate the ultrastru...

In vivo rodent tail models are becoming more widely used for exploring the role of mechanical loading on the initiation and progression of intervertebral disc degeneration. Historically, finite element models (FEMs) have been useful for predicting disc mechanics in humans. However, differences in geometry and tissue properties may limit the predictive utility of these models for rodent discs. C...

Although recent experimental studies indicate that disc-derived cytokines, as for instance TNF, seems to be intimately involved in the pathophysiology of sciatica and low back pain, the clinical studies performed do not provide conclusive data on TNF-inhibition as a useful complement for treatment of such conditions to existing modalities. Based on the fact that TNF is merely one component in a...

Emerging techniques as an alternative to the current treatments of lower back pain include nucleus replacement by an artificial material, which aims to relieve pain and restore the normal spinal motion. The compressive mechanical behavior of the PVA/PVP hydrogel nucleus implant was assessed in the present study. PVA/PVP hydrogels were made with various PVP concentrations. The hydrogels were loa...