Sex Differences in Rat Intervertebral Disc Structure and Function Following Annular Puncture Injury.

ABSTRACT:

Study design

A rat puncture injury intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration model with structural, biomechanical, and histological analyses.

Objective

To determine if males and females have distinct responses in the IVD after injury.

Summary of background data

Low back pain (LBP) and spinal impairments are more common in women than men. However, sex differences in IVD response to injury have been underexplored, particularly in animal models where sex differences can be measured without gender confounds.

Methods

Forty-eight male and female Sprague Dawley rats underwent sham, single annular puncture with tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) injection (1×), or triple annular puncture with TNFα injection (3×) surgery. Six weeks after surgery, lumbar IVDs were assessed by r

SUBMITTER: Mosley GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6722021 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature