Significance of the mechanical environment during regeneration of the intervertebral disc.

The prevalence of low back pain is high, and the intervertebral (IV) disc is regarded as one of the major causes. Various approaches have been reported to either slow down disc degeneration or to repair/regenerate the disc. So far, the effect of the mechanical environment has not been addressed in these approaches, although several investigations have shown its influence on other mesenchymal tissues. In this paper, we propose that the biophysical stimuli from the mechanical environment can directly influence cell type, as well as their metabolic activity during repair/regeneration of the IV disc. To demonstrate the potential of this idea, data from the literature, as well as explorative experimental results, are presented.