BEP - Intervertebral Disc

The potential of nucleus pulposus matrix hydrogel to restore the height of degenerated intervertebral discs

Esmee Kremer

Background

Low back pain is a major health problem which is related to degeneration of the intervertebral discs (IVDs). The onset of degeneration is often located in the center of the IVD; the nucleus pulposus (NP).

Method

In this paper a restorative therapy for disc degeneration was tested with notochordal cell (NC)-rich NP matrix (NCM) derived from porcine NPs. The osmotic potential and swell capacity of NCM hydrogel (n=6) and bovine NP tissue (n=3) was measured by culturing them in medium with different osmolarities. Also, the amount of negative charges was calculated with a dimethylmethyleneblue (DMMB) assay. As a proof of concept, NCM hydrogel was injected in degenerated bovine motion segments. The swelling potency of NCM was then tested with a creep test.

Results

The donor variability of NCM was tested and showed a significant difference. A clear difference in swell capacity between NP tissue with and without NCM hydrogel was not measured, although the amount of negative charges for NCM was consistently higher than for NP tissue. The injection of NCM hydrogel in motion segments showed a restorative effect.

Conclusion

NCM hydrogel shows a swelling potency that still needs more research but has promising results for future use.