Center of Excellence in Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeleton, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Sep 4;23(17):10125. doi: 10.3390/ijms231710125.
Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) contributes to low back pain. This study aimed to determine relative telomere length (RTL), oxidative stress status, and antioxidant levels and examine the relationships between RTL, oxidative stress, and the severity in LDD patients. A total of 100 subjects, 50 LDD patients and 50 healthy controls, were enrolled in the case−control study. Blood leukocyte RTL was analyzed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Lipid peroxidation was determined by malondialdehyde (MDA) assay. Plasma 8-hydroxy 2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) values were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) in plasma were also measured. The LDD patients had significantly shorter telomeres than the healthy controls (p = 0.04). Blood leukocyte RTL was inversely correlated with the LDD severity (r = −0.41, p = 0.005). Additionally, plasma MDA and 8-OHdG levels were markedly greater in LDD patients than in the controls (p = 0.01 and p = 0.002, respectively). Furthermore, the plasma MDA level showed a positive correlation with the radiographic severity (r = 0.49, p = 0.001). There was a positive correlation between plasma 8-OHdG and the severity (r = 0.60, p < 0.001). Moreover, plasma TAC and FRAP levels were significantly lower in LDD patients than in the controls (p = 0.04). No significant differences in plasma TAC and FRAP were observed among the three groups of LDD severity. We found that RTL was negatively correlated with the severity while plasma MDA and 8-OHdG levels were positively correlated with the severity. These findings suggest that blood leukocyte RTL, plasma MDA, and 8-OHdG may have potential as noninvasive biomarkers for the assessment of severity in LDD.
腰椎间盘退变（LDD）可导致腰痛。本研究旨在确定相对端粒长度（RTL）、氧化应激状态和抗氧化水平，并探讨 RTL、氧化应激与 LDD 患者严重程度之间的关系。一项病例对照研究共纳入 100 名受试者，50 例 LDD 患者和 50 例健康对照者。采用实时定量聚合酶链反应分析白细胞 RTL。通过丙二醛（MDA）测定法测定脂质过氧化。采用酶联免疫吸附试验测定血浆 8-羟基 2′-脱氧鸟苷（8-OHdG）值。还测量了血浆总抗氧化能力（TAC）和铁还原抗氧化能力（FRAP）。LDD 患者的端粒明显短于健康对照组（p = 0.04）。白细胞 RTL 与 LDD 严重程度呈负相关（r = -0.41，p = 0.005）。此外，LDD 患者的血浆 MDA 和 8-OHdG 水平明显高于对照组（p = 0.01 和 p = 0.002）。此外，血浆 MDA 水平与放射学严重程度呈正相关（r = 0.49，p = 0.001）。血浆 8-OHdG 与严重程度呈正相关（r = 0.60，p < 0.001）。此外，LDD 患者的血浆 TAC 和 FRAP 水平明显低于对照组（p = 0.04）。LDD 严重程度的三组之间，血浆 TAC 和 FRAP 无显著差异。我们发现 RTL 与严重程度呈负相关，而血浆 MDA 和 8-OHdG 水平与严重程度呈正相关。这些发现表明，白细胞 RTL、血浆 MDA 和 8-OHdG 可能成为评估 LDD 严重程度的非侵入性生物标志物。
