Physicochemical properties of the aging and diabetic sand rat intervertebral disc.

Hydration, fixed charge density, (FCD) and hydration under various osmotic pressures were compared in young, old, and young diabetic sand rats. This rat is a desert animal that may develop diabetes when fed a regular diet; it is also known to have radiographic and histologic evidence of intervertebral disc (IVD) disease. Forty-five rats and 180 IVD were used in this study; they were divided into three equal groups: young healthy, old healthy, and young diabetics. IVD, cancellous bone, and muscle were sampled from distal lumbar spines. The young diabetic rats (YD) were considerably heavier than the age-matched controls, had higher insulin and glucose levels, and all YD had cataracts. The discs of the young diabetic animals demonstrated decreased hydration, FCD and ability to resist compression under osmotic pressures as compared with the young and healthy discs and were more similar to the discs from old rats. The IVD is the most affected musculoskeletal connective tissue in sand rats with aging and diabetes. The aged and diabetic discs in the sand rat demonstrated changes similar to human changes with regard to lower hydration, FCD, and ability to resist osmotic pressure. Therefore, the sand rat may be a suitable animal model for studying the pathogenesis of disc degeneration.