Tõnu Rätsep1, Ave Minajeva, Toomas Asser. 1. Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Tartu, L.Puusepa 8, 51014, Tartu, Estonia, tonu.ratsep@kliinikum.ee.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Lumbar disc degeneration may be associated with intensity of neovascularization in disc herniations. Our study was designed to evaluate how much the severity of histodegeneration is related to the development of neovascularization and to the level of pleiotrophin in the herniated lumbar discs. METHODS: Surgically excised lumbar disc specimens were obtained from 29 patients with noncontained (i.e., extruding through the posterior longitudinal ligament) and 21 patients with contained disc herniations. The histodegeneration scores and levels of neovascularization were estimated according to semiquantitative analysis in lumbar disc and endplate samples. Immunohistochemical staining were performed to identify the newly formed blood vessels and to detect the presence of pleiotrophin in the specimens. RESULTS: Higher levels of disc and endplate neovascularity were registered in noncontained herniations. The level of neovascularization was significantly related to the score of histodegeneration in the herniated disc tissues but not in the endplate specimens. Both contained and noncontained herniations had the highest values of histodegeneration in conjunction with the highest level of neovascularization but the relations between neovascularity and degenerative changes remained to be significant only in the group of noncontained herniations. Registration or frequency of pleiotrophin positive cells did not correlate significantly with histodegeneration or level of neovascularization in the disc samples. CONCLUSION: Severe histodegeneration of the lumbar disc herniations is associated with enhanced neovascularization and potentially also spontaneous regression of the herniated tissue.
PURPOSE: Lumbar disc degeneration may be associated with intensity of neovascularization in disc herniations. Our study was designed to evaluate how much the severity of histodegeneration is related to the development of neovascularization and to the level of pleiotrophin in the herniated lumbar discs. METHODS: Surgically excised lumbar disc specimens were obtained from 29 patients with noncontained (i.e., extruding through the posterior longitudinal ligament) and 21 patients with contained disc herniations. The histodegeneration scores and levels of neovascularization were estimated according to semiquantitative analysis in lumbar disc and endplate samples. Immunohistochemical staining were performed to identify the newly formed blood vessels and to detect the presence of pleiotrophin in the specimens. RESULTS: Higher levels of disc and endplate neovascularity were registered in noncontained herniations. The level of neovascularization was significantly related to the score of histodegeneration in the herniated disc tissues but not in the endplate specimens. Both contained and noncontained herniations had the highest values of histodegeneration in conjunction with the highest level of neovascularization but the relations between neovascularity and degenerative changes remained to be significant only in the group of noncontained herniations. Registration or frequency of pleiotrophin positive cells did not correlate significantly with histodegeneration or level of neovascularization in the disc samples. CONCLUSION: Severe histodegeneration of the lumbar disc herniations is associated with enhanced neovascularization and potentially also spontaneous regression of the herniated tissue.
Authors: Norbert Boos; Sabine Weissbach; Helmut Rohrbach; Christoph Weiler; Kevin F Spratt; Andreas G Nerlich Journal: Spine (Phila Pa 1976) Date: 2002-12-01 Impact factor: 3.468
Authors: Andreas Zigouris; Anna Batistatou; George A Alexiou; Dimitrios Pachatouridis; Evaggelos Mihos; Dimitrios Drosos; George Fotakopoulos; Michail Doukas; Spyridon Voulgaris; Athanasios P Kyritsis Journal: J Neurosurg Spine Date: 2010-12-24
Authors: Pedro H I Pohl; Thomas P Lozito; Thais Cuperman; Takashi Yurube; Hong J Moon; Kevin Ngo; Rocky S Tuan; Claudette St Croix; Gwendolyn A Sowa; Luciano M R Rodrigues; James D Kang; Nam V Vo Journal: J Orthop Res Date: 2016-06-14 Impact factor: 3.494
Authors: Paola Bermudez-Lekerika; Katherine B Crump; Sofia Tseranidou; Andrea Nüesch; Exarchos Kanelis; Ahmad Alminnawi; Laura Baumgartner; Estefano Muñoz-Moya; Roger Compte; Francesco Gualdi; Leonidas G Alexopoulos; Liesbet Geris; Karin Wuertz-Kozak; Christine L Le Maitre; Jérôme Noailly; Benjamin Gantenbein Journal: Front Cell Dev Biol Date: 2022-06-29
Authors: Matthew G Wiet; Andrew Piscioneri; Safdar N Khan; Megan N Ballinger; Judith A Hoyland; Devina Purmessur Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2017-10-02 Impact factor: 4.379