European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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Chronic low back pain has been associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, which is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM)-degrading proteases and inflammatory molecules in the degenerate tissue. IVD degeneration could be the outcome of natural organismal ageing and/or of the exposure of the disc to cumulative stressful environmental stimuli and is accompanied by an increased population of senescent cells in the tissue. On the other hand, senescent cells are known to secrete proteolytic enzymes and inflammatory molecules, which can contribute to ECM catabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the transcriptional profile of selected metalloproteinases (MMPs) and inflammatory mediators in human nucleus pulposus IVD cells that became senescent using three different approaches: serial subculturing, exposure to ionizing radiation and p16INK4a overexpression. ⋯ Data described here suggest that senescent cells may have similar functions in IVD homeostasis, irrespective of the origin of senescence induction.
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Case Reports Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Three-column osteotomy for correction of cervical and cervicothoracic deformities: alignment changes and early complications in a multicenter prospective series of 23 patients.
Three-column osteotomy (3CO), including pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO) and vertebral column resection (VCR), can provide powerful alignment correction for adult cervical deformity (ACD). Our objective was to assess alignment changes and early complications associated with 3CO for ACD. ⋯ Among 23 ACD patients treated with 3CO, cervical alignment improved significantly following surgery. Thirteen (56.5%) patients had at least one complication. The most common complications were neurologic deficit, infection, DJK, and cardiorespiratory failure.
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Majority of the previous studies compared lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients for analyses of LFH. However, the separation of normal/hypertrophied LF has often been ambiguous and the severity of hypertrophic activity differed. Here, we present a novel analysis scheme for LFH in which myofibroblast is proposed as a major etiological factor for LFH study. ⋯ We conclude that the transition of fibroblast to myofibroblasts via TGF-β pathway is a key linker between inflammation and fibrosis in LFH mechanism.
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Cells in the intervertebral disc have unique phenotypes and marker genes that separate the nucleus pulposus (NP), annulus fibrosus (AF) and articular cartilage (AC) have been identified. Recently, it was shown that phenotypic marker genes exhibit variable expression in humans. In this study, the bovine tail was used to determine the ability of marker genes to distinguish the outer and inner AF from NP tissue and isolated cells. ⋯ The IVD phenotypic marker genes bT, bKrt19, bSfrp2 and bCol12a1 convincingly distinguished NP from outer AF in situ and in vitro.