212
· DOS Abstracts
Intervertebral disc degenerative changes after
intradiscal injection of TNF-
α
in a porcine model
Ran Kang, Haisheng Li, Kresten Rickers, Steffen Ringgaard, Lin Xie, Cody Bünger
Orthopaedic Research Lab, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark; The
MR Research Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby, Aarhus C 8000,
Denmark; Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Jiangsu Province Hospital on
Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing 210028, China
Background:
While high expression of tumor necrosis factor-
α
(TNF-
α
) is
commonly found in already degenerated discs, whether or not exogenous
TNF-
α
will initiate a degeneration process in a healthy disc in vivo has not been
studied assertively.
Purpose / Aim of Study:
To investigate whether exogenous TNF-
α
will initiate
intervertebral disc degeneration.
Materials and Methods:
Exogenous TNF-
α
in dosages of 50 ng and 100 ng in
50 ¦ÌL Dulbecco¡¯s Modified Essential Medum (DMEM) was injected into por-
cine lumbar discs; a third disc was injected only with 50 ¦ÌL DMEM as a control.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) yielding T1- and T2-weighted images, T2
maps, and post-contrast T1 images was performed and histology was studied
as well.
Findings / Results:
After three months, a significant decrease in T2 value was
observed in the annulus and nucleus of both groups injected with TNF-
α
along
with a slight decrease in disc height and nucleus volumes in comparison to the
control discs. No obvious differences among the groups were observed in the
normal T1- and T2-weighted MRI images. Post- contrast T1 MRI showed in-
creased annulus enhancement in both TNF-
α
- injected groups compared to the
control discs, while no enhancement difference was observed in the nucleus.
Histological analysis showed degenerative changes with annulus fissure, cell
cluster, nucleus matrix loss, and vascularization in the outer annulus of both
TNF-
α
- injected discs, while no degenerative changes were observed in the
control discs.
Conclusions:
Intradiscal injection of exogenous TNF-
α
caused disc degenera-
tion in a porcine model. Accordingly, such preventive measures as anti- inflam-
matory treatment might be considered as a means of protecting the disc when
there are high TNF-
α
levels in the serum.
159.
