Ni Li, Zhang Linlin, Xia Wei, Chen Guangdong, Cui Xudong, Zhang Wen, Luo Zongping, Yang Huilin
Department of Orthopaedics, Orthopaedic Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital of SooChow University, China.
J Orthop Translat. 2018 Aug 22;15:104-111. doi: 10.1016/j.jot.2018.07.008. eCollection 2018 Oct.
There is a close relationship between the vertebral trabecular morphology and the condition of the associated disc.
The relationship between disc degeneration and vertebral trabecular inhomogeneity is unclear. This study aimed to analyse the regional changes of vertebral trabecular morphology after disc degeneration.
Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to five groups. Group 1 served as an experimental group for the assessment of disc degeneration induced by needle puncture. Group 2 served as a sham group for trabecular morphology analysis. In Group 3, rats had their tail bent between the eighth and tenth coccygeal vertebrae. In Group 4, the tail of rats was bent with a compression load of 4.5 N. In Group 5, rats first underwent disc degeneration induced by a needle puncture before their tail was bent with a compressive load of 4.5 N. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on all groups, and histological examination was performed on rodents from Group 1. The ninth coccygeal vertebrae of rats from Groups 2-5 were scanned by Micro-computed tomography. Trabecular morphologic changes were assessed in the concave and convex regions by bone volume fraction, trabecular number, trabecular thickness and trabecular separation.
Vertebral trabecular morphology in the concave region improved significantly, whereas the convex region was of significantly lower trabecular morphologic parameters with disc degeneration. The difference in trabecular morphologic parameters between the convex and concave regions increased significantly after disc degeneration.
Disc degeneration promotes regional inhomogeneity in the vertebral trabecular morphology, with the convex region of the vertebrae having the worse trabecular bone morphology than the concave region.
Our study indicates that disc degeneration promotes regional inhomogeneity in the vertebral trabecular morphology. Regional variations in trabecular microarchitecture are helpful to predict vertebral fragility. This may help to elucidate the mechanisms by which disc degeneration contributes to vertebral fracture.
椎体小梁形态与相关椎间盘状况之间存在密切关系。
椎间盘退变与椎体小梁不均匀性之间的关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在分析椎间盘退变后椎体小梁形态的区域变化。
将30只雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠随机分为五组。第1组作为评估针刺诱导椎间盘退变的实验组。第2组作为小梁形态分析的假手术组。第3组大鼠的尾巴在第八和第十尾椎之间弯曲。第4组大鼠的尾巴承受4.5 N的压缩负荷弯曲。第5组大鼠先经针刺诱导椎间盘退变，然后尾巴承受4.5 N的压缩负荷弯曲。对所有组进行磁共振成像，并对第1组的啮齿动物进行组织学检查。对第2 - 5组大鼠的第九尾椎进行显微计算机断层扫描。通过骨体积分数、小梁数量、小梁厚度和小梁间距评估凹面和凸面区域的小梁形态变化。
随着椎间盘退变，凹面区域的椎体小梁形态显著改善，而凸面区域的小梁形态参数明显较低。椎间盘退变后，凸面和凹面区域之间的小梁形态参数差异显著增加。
椎间盘退变促进椎体小梁形态的区域不均匀性，椎体的凸面区域小梁骨形态比凹面区域更差。
我们的研究表明，椎间盘退变促进椎体小梁形态的区域不均匀性。小梁微结构的区域差异有助于预测椎体脆性。这可能有助于阐明椎间盘退变导致椎体骨折的机制。
