Liu Yuheng, Zhao Zhen, Guo Chuan, Huang Zhangheng, Zhang Weifei, Ma Fei, Wang Zhe, Kong Qingquan, Wang Yu
Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Orthopedic Research Institute, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Dec 7;11:1286223. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1286223. eCollection 2023.
Low back pain caused by disc herniation and spinal stenosis imposes an enormous medical burden on society due to its high prevalence and refractory nature. This is mainly due to the long-term inflammation and degradation of the extracellular matrix in the process of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD), which manifests as loss of water in the nucleus pulposus (NP) and the formation of fibrous disc fissures. Biomaterial repair strategies involving hydrogels play an important role in the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration. Excellent biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties, easy modification, injectability, and the ability to encapsulate drugs, cells, genes, etc. make hydrogels good candidates as scaffolds and cell/drug carriers for treating NP degeneration and other aspects of IVDD. This review first briefly describes the anatomy, pathology, and current treatments of IVDD, and then introduces different types of hydrogels and addresses "smart hydrogels". Finally, we discuss the feasibility and prospects of using hydrogels to treat IVDD.
椎间盘突出和椎管狭窄引起的腰痛因其高患病率和难治性给社会带来了巨大的医疗负担。这主要是由于椎间盘退变（IVDD）过程中细胞外基质的长期炎症和降解，表现为髓核（NP）失水和椎间盘纤维裂隙形成。涉及水凝胶的生物材料修复策略在椎间盘退变治疗中发挥着重要作用。出色的生物相容性、可调节的机械性能、易于改性、可注射性以及封装药物、细胞、基因等的能力，使水凝胶成为治疗NP退变和IVDD其他方面的良好支架和细胞/药物载体候选材料。本综述首先简要描述了IVDD的解剖学、病理学和当前治疗方法，然后介绍了不同类型的水凝胶并探讨了“智能水凝胶”。最后，我们讨论了使用水凝胶治疗IVDD的可行性和前景。
