Compression-induced changes in intervertebral disc properties in a rat tail model

wbldb

Iatridis, James C.¹; Mente, Peter L.²; Stokes, Ian A. F.¹; Aronsson, David D.¹; Alini, Mauro³

Compression-induced changes in intervertebral disc properties in a rat tail model

Spine. May 15, 1999;24(10):996-1002

©1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Affiliations

¹Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont

²Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina

³Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Abstract and keywords

Study Design: An Ilizarov-type apparatus was applied to the tails of rats to assess the influence of immobilization, chronically applied compression, and sham intervention on intervertebral discs of mature rats.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that chronically applied compressive forces and immobilization cause changes in the biomechanical behavior and biochemical composition of rat tail intervertebral discs.

Summary of Background Data: Mechanical factors are associated with degenerative disc disease and low back pain, yet there have been few controlled studies in which the effects of compressive forces on the structure and function of the disc have been isolated.

Methods: The tails of 16 Sprague–Dawley rats were instrumented with an Ilizarov-type apparatus. Animals were separated into sham, immobilization, and compression groups based on the mechanical conditions imposed. In vivo biomechanical measurements of disc thickness, angular laxity, and axial and angular compliance were made at 14-day intervals during the course of the 56-day experiment, after which discs were harvested for measurement of water, proteoglycan, and collagen contents.

Results: Application of pins and rings alone (sham group) resulted in relatively small changes of in vivo biomechanical behavior. Immobilization resulted in decreased disc thickness, axial compliance, and angular laxity. Chronically applied compression had effects similar to those of immobilization alone but induced those changes earlier and in larger magnitudes. Application of external compressive forces also caused an increase in proteoglycan content of the intervertebral discs.

Conclusions: The well-controlled loading environment applied to the discs in this model provides a means of isolating the influence of joint-loading conditions on the response of the intervertebral disc. Results indicate that chronically applied compressive forces, in the absence of any disease process, caused changes in mechanical properties and composition of tail discs. These changes have similarities and differences in comparison with human spinal disc degeneration.

Keywords: animal model; compression; immobilization; intervertebral disc degeneration; mechanical modulation
Links

DOI: 10.1097/00007632-199905150-00013

PubMed: 10332792

WoS: 000080190000014
History

Received: 1998-05-29

Revised: 1998-10-06

Accepted: 1998-11-30

Cited Works (6)

Year	Entry
1996	Ishihara H, McNally DS, Urban JP, Hall AC. Effects of hydrostatic pressure on matrix synthesis in different regions of the intervertebral disk. J Appl Physiol. March 1996;80(3):839-846.
1988	Gray ML, Pizzanelli AM, Grodzinsky AJ, Lee RC. Mechanical and physicochemical determinants of the chondrocyte biosynthetic response. J Orthop Res. November 1988;6(6):777-792.
1995	Ohshima H, Urban JPG, Bergel DH. Effect of static load on matrix synthesis rates in the intervertebral disc measured in vitro by a new perfusion technique. J Orthop Res. January 1995;13(1):22-29.
1991	Hall AC, Urban JPG, Gehl KA. The effects of hydrostatic pressure on matrix synthesis in articular cartilage. J Orthop Res. January 1991;9(1):1-10.
1998	Iatridis JC, Setton LA, Foster RJ, Rawlins BA, Weidenbaum M, Mow VC. Degeneration affects the anisotropic and nonlinear behaviors of human anulus fibrosus in compression. J Biomech. June 1998;31(6):535-544.
1995	Bachrach NM, Valhmu WB, Stazzone E, Ratcliffe A, Lai WM, Mow VC. Changes in proteoglycan synthesis of chondrocytes in articular cartilage are associated with the time-dependent changes in their mechanical environment. J Biomech. December 1995;28(12):1561-1569.

Cited By (31)

Year	Entry
2003	Urban JPG, Roberts S. Degeneration of the intervertebral disc. Arthritis Res Ther. 2003;5(3):120-130.
2004	Walsh AJL, Lotz JC. Biological response of the intervertebral disc to dynamic loading. J Biomech. March 2004;37(3):329-337.
2003	Baer AE, Laursen TA, Guilak F, Setton LA. The micromechanical environment of intervertebral disc cells determined by a finite deformation, anisotropic, and biphasic finite element model. J Biomech Eng. February 2003;125(1):1-11.
2003	Upton ML, Chen J, Guilak F, Setton LA. Differential effects of static and dynamic compression on meniscal cell gene expression. J Orthop Res. November 2003;21(6):963-969.
2008	Raj PP. Intervertebral disc: anatomy-physiology-pathophysiology-treatment. Pain Pract. January–February 2008;8(1):18-44.
1999	Guilak F, Ting-Beall HP, Baer AE, Trickey WR, Erickson GR, Setton LA. Viscoelastic properties of intervertebral disc cells: identification of two biomechanically distinct cell populations. Spine. December 1, 1999;24(23):2475-2483.
2004	Elliott DM, Sarver JJ. Young investigator award winner: validation of the mouse and rat disc as mechanical models of the human lumbar disc. Spine. April 1, 2004;29(7):713-722.
2004	Stokes IAF, Iatridis JC. Mechanical conditions that accelerate intervertebral disc degeneration: overload versus immobilization. Spine. December 1, 2004;29(23):2724-2732.
2015	Walter BA. The Role of Inflammation in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration [PhD thesis]. New York, NY: The City College of New York; 2015.
2020	Wilson RL. Next Generation Biometrics for the Modeling and Detection of Early Soft Tissue Degeneration in Vivo [PhD thesis]. University of Colorado; 2020.
2022	Burt KG. Evaluation of Inflammatory Biological Drivers and the Role of the Innate Immune Response During Intervertebral Disc Degeneration [PhD thesis]. Columbia University; 2022.
2022	Jacobsen TD. Relationship Between Inflammatory Stimulation and Cell Biomechanics in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration [PhD thesis]. Columbia University; 2022.
2018	Mojica Santiago JA. Tissue Engineering of Cervical Intervertebral Discs: An in Vitro and in Vivo Pre-Clinical Canine Model of Total Disc Replacement [PhD thesis]. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University; August 2018.
2001	Baer AE. The Micromechanical Environment of Intervertebral Disc Cells [PhD thesis]. Duke University; 2001.
2008	Cao L. Micromechanics of the Pericellular Matrix and Cells in the Intervertebral Disc: Three-Dimensional Finite Element Modeling Based on in Situ Morphology [PhD thesis]. Duke University; 2008.
2013	Wang C. Mechanobiology of the Intervertebral Disc: Influences of Static and Dynamic Compressions on Energy Metabolism [PhD thesis]. University of Miami; May 2013.
2016	Zhu Q. Numerical Modeling of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and Repair [PhD thesis]. University of Miami; May 2016.
2019	Torre OM. Intervertebral Disc Regeneration in Neonatal Mice [PhD thesis]. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; 2019.
2011	Driscoll M. Design, Optimization, and Evaluation of a Fusionless Device to Induce Growth Modulation and Correct Spinal Curvatures in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis [PhD thesis]. École polytechnique de Montréal; June 2011.
2018	Mejia Jaramillo A. Analyse histomorphométrique de la colonne vertébrale porcine instrumentée avec une agrafe intravertébrale [Master's thesis]. École polytechnique de Montréal; May 2018.
2010	Holguin N. Low-Level Vibrations Maintain the Intervertebral Disc During Unloading [PhD thesis]. Stony Brook, NY: Stony Brook University; December 2010.
2003	Palmer EI. Mechanisms of Load-Induced Intervertebral Disc Degeneration [PhD thesis]. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley, University of California; 2003.
2002	Walsh AJL. Tissue Remodeling in the Intervertebral Disc: Response to Dynamic Loading and Growth Factors [PhD thesis]. San Francisco, University of California; 2002.
2007	Ulrich JA. A Repeated Injury Model of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and the in-Vivo Effects of Thermal Therapy [PhD thesis]. San Francisco, University of California; 2007.
2009	Boxberger JI. Altered and Restored Function After Reduced Nucleus Pulposus Glycosaminoglycan Content in the Rat Lumbar Intervertebral Disc [PhD thesis]. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania; 2009.
2015	Martin JT. Nanofibrous Disc-Like Angle Ply Structures for Total Disc Replacement in a Small Animal Model [PhD thesis]. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania; 2015.
2010	Turcotte M-C. La queue du rat: Un modèle expérimental prometteur pour l'étude mécanobiologique du fascia in vivo [Master's thesis]. Université de Sherbrooke; June 2010.
2006	Hardisty MR. Strain Measurement in Vertebral Bodies by Image Registration [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2006.
2008	Moss IL. Modified-Hyaluronan and Elastin-Like Polypeptide Composite Material for Tissue Engineering of the Nucleus Pulposus [Master's thesis]. University of Toronto; 2008.
2008	Korecki CL. Effects of Compression Loading, Injury, and Age on Intervertebral Disc Mechanics, Biology and Metabolism Using Large Animal Organ and Cell Culture Systems [PhD thesis]. University of Vermont; May 2008.
2006	Tampier C. Progressive Disc Herniation: An Investigation of the Mechanism Using Histochemical and Microscopic Techniques [Master's thesis]. University of Waterloo; 2006.