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Human intervertebral disc internal strain in compression: the effect of disc region, loading position, and degeneration.

ABSTRACT: The primary function of the disc is mechanical; therefore, degenerative changes in disc mechanics and the interactions between the annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) in nondegenerate and degenerate discs are important to functional evaluation. The disc experiences complex loading conditions, including mechanical interactions between the pressurized NP and the surrounding fiber-reinforced AF. Our objective was to noninvasively evaluate the internal deformations of nondegenerate and degenerate human discs under axial compression with flexion, neutral, and extension positions using magnetic resonance imaging and image correlation. The side of applied bending (e.g., anterior AF in flexion) had higher tensile radial and compressive axial strains, and the opposite side of bending exhibited tensile axial strains even though the disc was loaded under axial compression. Degenerated discs exhibited higher compressive axial and tensile radial strains, which suggest that load distribution through the disc subcomponents are altered with degeneration, likely due to the depressurized NP placing more of the applied load directly on the AF. The posterior AF exhibited higher compressive axial and higher tensile radial strains than the other AF regions, and the strains were not correlated with degeneration, suggesting this region undergoes high strains throughout life, which may predispose it to failure and tears. In addition to understanding internal disc mechanics, this study provides important new data into the changes in internal strain with degeneration, data for validation of finite element models, and provides a technique and baseline data for evaluating surgical treatments.

SUBMITTER: O'Connell GD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3428014 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Human intervertebral disc internal strain in compression: the effect of disc region, loading position, and degeneration.

O'Connell Grace D GD Vresilovic Edward J EJ Elliott Dawn M DM

Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society 20101026 4

The primary function of the disc is mechanical; therefore, degenerative changes in disc mechanics and the interactions between the annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) in nondegenerate and degenerate discs are important to functional evaluation. The disc experiences complex loading conditions, including mechanical interactions between the pressurized NP and the surrounding fiber-reinforced AF. Our objective was to noninvasively evaluate the internal deformations of nondegenerate and d ...[more]

PMID: 21337394

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Project description:Human intervertebral disc tissue was obtained from patients (average age 51 yrs) undergoing surgery for lumbar interbody fusion (n=3) or lumbar disc herniation (n=1). Cells were isolated by sequential pronase-collagenase digestion [3]. Cells were passaged twice in monolayer and suspended at a density of 2 x 106 cells/ml in 1.2% alginate (low viscosity, Sigma Chemical, St Louis, MO) dissolved in 150 mM NaCl. Alginate beads were formed by dropwise addition of the alginate from a 22 gauge needle into 102 mM CaCl2, followed by 10 minutes of curing, as described previously [13, 27]. Cell-gel beads were incubated in cell culture media consisting of Ham’s F-12 medium (Gibco BRL, Grand Island, NY), supplemented with 10% FBS (HyClone, Logan, UT), 25 μg/ml ascorbic acid (Sigma, St. Louis, MO), 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin, and 1 μg/ml Fungizone at 5% CO2 and 37° C. After 24 h, the cell culture medium was removed via pipette and exchanged for one of three osmotically active solutions, representing iso-osmotic, hyper-osmotic and hypo-osmotic media [12, 23, 34]. The iso-osmotic solution consisted of a defined cell culture medium (Ham’s F-12 with supplements as described above; 293 mOsm/kg H2O). The hypo-osmotic solution consisted of the same cell culture media diluted with de-ionized water to a final osmolarity of 250 mOsm/kg H2O. The hyper-osmotic solution consisted of the same cell culture media supplemented with sucrose to a final osmolarity of 450 mOsm/kg H20. The osmolarity of all solution formulations was determined using a freezing-point osmometer (Advanced Laboratory Wide Range 3W2, Advanced Instrument, Needham Heights, MA) as described previously [12]. Cell-alginate beads were cultured for a 4 hour period under one of these conditions, after which the cells were released from alginate in a dissolving buffer (55 mM Na-citrate and 150 mM NaCl), lysed and stored at –80°C. Intervertebral disc (IVD) cells experience a broad range of physical stimuli under physiologic conditions, including alterations in their osmotic environment. In this study, the gene expression profile of human IVD cells was quantified with gene array technology following exposure to varying osmolarity in order to capture the biological responses for a broad set of targets. A total of 42 genes were identified in IVD cells as significantly changed following culture under hyper-osmotic conditions, while a total of 18 genes were identified as significantly changed under hypo-osmotic conditions. Gene expression patterns were verified using RT-PCR. Genes identified in this study include those related to cytoskeleton remodeling and stabilization (ephrin-B2, sarcoglycan beta, IQGAP1), as well as membrane transport (ion transporter SLC21A12, osmolyte tranporter SLC5A3, monocarboxylic acid SLC16A6, and amino acid transporter SLC7A8). An unexpected finding was the differential regulation of the gene for the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor by hyper-osmotic stimuli that may be indicative of a physiological response of IVD cells to physical stimuli important in regulating discogenic pain. Keywords = intervertebral disc Keywords = osmotic stimuli Keywords: other

Dataset Information

Human intervertebral disc internal strain in compression: the effect of disc region, loading position, and degeneration.

Publications

Human intervertebral disc internal strain in compression: the effect of disc region, loading position, and degeneration.

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