Human cartilage endplate permeability varies with degeneration and intervertebral disc site.

ABSTRACT: Despite the critical functions the human cartilage endplate (CEP) plays in the intervertebral disc, little is known about its structural and mechanical properties and their changes with degeneration. Quantifying these changes with degeneration is important for understanding how the CEP contributes to the function and pathology of the disc. Therefore the objectives of this study were to quantify the effect of disc degeneration on human CEP mechanical properties, determine the influence of superior and inferior disc site on mechanics and composition, and simulate the role of collagen fibers in CEP and disc mechanics using a validated finite element model. Confined compression data and biochemical composition data were used in a biphasic-swelling model to calculate compressive extrafibrillar

SUBMITTER: DeLucca JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4779374 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature