Analysis of rabbit intervertebral disc physiology based on water metabolism. I. Factors influencing metabolism of the normal intervertebral discs.

Basic factors influencing the metabolism of intervertebral discs of rabbits were quantitatively analyzed based on the water metabolism. The blood flow surrounding the intervertebral disc was calculated using pharmacokinetic concepts from the data obtained by time-related tritiated water distribution analyses. The blood flow was estimated as 0.056 (mg/min/mg tissue) in the anterior annulus, 0.106 in the posterior annulus, 0.120 in the lateral annulus, and 0.084 in the nucleus pulposus, respectively (Experiment 1). Water content and fixed charge density in the intervertebral disc fractions also were measured (Experiment 2). The cations and uncharged small solutes transported into the disc tissue ranged in descending order from nucleus pulposus, lateral annulus, posterior annulus, to anterior annulus. The authors also calculated theoretically the swelling pressure of the proteoglycan in the intervertebral disc fractions from the results of Experiment 2. It was concluded that swelling pressure was highest in the nucleus pulposus, and lowest in the anterior annulus. The water in the posterior annulus is less exchangeable than in the other disc tissue fractions.