3D shape analyses of extant primate and fossil hominin vertebrae support the ancestral shape hypothesis for intervertebral disc herniation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recently we proposed an evolutionary explanation for a spinal pathology that afflicts many people, intervertebral disc herniation (Plomp et al. [2015] BMC Evolutionary Biology 15, 68). Using 2D data, we found that the bodies and pedicles of lower vertebrae of pathological humans were more similar in shape to those of chimpanzees than were those of healthy humans. Based on this, we hypothesized that some individuals are more prone to intervertebral disc herniation because their vertebrae exhibit ancestral traits and therefore are less well adapted for the stresses associated with bipedalism. Here, we report a study in which we tested this "Ancestral Shape Hypothesis" with 3D data from the last two thoracic and first lumbar vertebrae of pathological Homo sapiens, healthy H

SUBMITTER: Plomp KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6916256 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature