Yan Liang, Gao Rui, Liu Yang, He Baorong, Lv Shemin, Hao Dingjun
1Department of Spine Surgery, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an, 710054, China.
2Department of Respiration, The Children's Hospital of Xi'an City, Xi'an, 710054, China.
Aging Dis. 2017 Oct 1;8(5):570-582. doi: 10.14336/AD.2017.0201. eCollection 2017 Oct.
Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) is a multi-factorial disease involving an ectopic bone formation of spinal ligaments. It affects 0.8-3.0% aging Asian and 0.1-1.7% aging European Caucasian. The ossified ligament compresses nerve roots in the spinal cord and causes serious neurological problems such as myelopathy and radiculopathy. Research in understanding pathogenesis of OPLL over the past several decades have revealed many genetic and non-genetic factors contributing to the development and progress of OPLL. The characterizations of aberrant signaling of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), and the pathological phenotypes of OPLL-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have provided new insights on the molecular mechanisms underlying OPLL. This paper reviews the recent progress in understanding the pathophysiology of OPLL and proposes future research directions on OPLL.
后纵韧带骨化症（OPLL）是一种涉及脊柱韧带异位骨形成的多因素疾病。它在亚洲老年人群中的发病率为0.8%-3.0%，在欧洲老年白种人群中的发病率为0.1%-1.7%。骨化的韧带压迫脊髓神经根，导致严重的神经问题，如脊髓病和神经根病。过去几十年对OPLL发病机制的研究揭示了许多导致OPLL发生和发展的遗传和非遗传因素。骨形态发生蛋白（BMP）和丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）异常信号的特征，以及OPLL来源的间充质干细胞（MSC）的病理表型，为OPLL潜在的分子机制提供了新的见解。本文综述了OPLL病理生理学研究的最新进展，并提出了OPLL未来的研究方向。
