J Korean Acad Rehabil Med.  2009 Jun;33(3):304-308.

Expression of Growth Factors and Cytokines in Patients withDegenerated Disc Disease and Herniated Nucleus Pulposus

• Moon CS
• Lee SC
• Jung WW
• Sul D
• Hong YK
• Kim HS
• Wang J
• Lee SH

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of cytokines and growth factors in disc specimens obtained from small numbers of patients with herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP) and degenerated disc disease (DDD). METHOD: A total of ten human intervertebral disc samples consisted of five painful degenerative discs and five herniated intervertebal discs were obtained from surgery. MRI and Western blot analyses on these disc samples were performed to determine the levels of disc degeneration and the expression levels of cytokines and growth factors.
RESULTS
The levels of IL-6 were significantly greater in the DDD patients than in the HNP patients, but no statistical differences were observed in the expression of IL-1beta, IL-8 and TNF-alpha between the HNP and DDD patients. In addition, the expression of TGF beta was significantly higher in the DDD patients than in the HNP patients.
CONCLUSION
The higher levels of cytokine and growth factor expression in the DDD than in the HNP show why discogenic patients usually have more severe back pain than patients with herniated discs.

Keyword

Herniated nucleus pulposus; Degenerated disc disease; Cytokines; Growth factors

MeSH Terms

Back Pain
Blotting, Western
Cytokines
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane
Humans
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
Interleukin-6
Interleukin-8
Intervertebral Disc
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration
Intervertebral Disc Displacement
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
Cytokines
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
Interleukin-6
Interleukin-8
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha