ISSN Print 2500–1094
ISSN Online 2542–1204
BIOMEDICAL JOURNAL OF PIROGOV UNIVERSITY (MOSCOW, RUSSIA)
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Degenerative disc disease in young adults: cytokine profile and angiogenic factors
About authors
1 Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
2 Kulakov National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology, Moscow, Russia
3 Pirogov City Clinical Hospital № 1, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Anna V. Novikova
Ostrovitianova, 1, Moscow, 117997, Russia; ur.liam@8002evonna
About paper
Acknowledgements: we would like to thank neurosurgeons of the Department of Neurosurgery, Nekrasova MA, Babenkova VV, Isaeva AN, Smirnova VA, Glukhova DS, Gabechiya GV, Choriyeva DB, Kozheva AKh, for assistance in our research.
Author contribution: Novikova AV — literature analysis, clinical data acquisition and biomaterial collection, preanalytical phase of the study, data analysis and interpretation, preparation of figures and graphs; Pravdyuk NG — literature analysis, task definition, study design, data analysis and interpretation; Saklakova VS — literature analysis, analytic phase of laboratory testing, definition and statistical analysis of mRNA abundance in biomaterial, scheduling; Lolomadze EA — analysis of laboratory work, analysis of mRNA abundance in biomaterial; Feniksov VМ and Nikolaev DA — admission to clinical data acquisition, neurological examination of patients, discectomy, biomaterial collection; Davygora KS — literature analysis, analysis of laboratory work; Timofeev VT — study planning, preanalytical phase of the study, evaluation of the data obtained; Shostak NA — research management, study design, data interpretation, manuscript editing.
Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (protocol № 181 dated January 28, 2019); the informed consent to blood testing and investigation of intervertebral disc was obtained from all participants.
Received: 2021-11-22
Accepted: 2021-12-06
Published online: 2021-12-20
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Back pain (BP), associated with the degenerative disc disease (DDD), poses a heavy social and economic burden due to early disability and indications to surgery, emerging in young adults. Pathophysiological basis of premature intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is being actively studied. The study was aimed to define the profiles of inflammatory cytokines in DDD, as well as their relationship to the structural spine diseases. The molecular genetic analysis of the mRNA gene abundance in patients with BP and herniated IVD after discectomy and healthy individuals was performed by the quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. High expression of TNFα, IL17 was revealed in the IVD tissues of the affected patients (p < 0.01); the levels of TNFα and IL1β correlated with the DDD severity (r = 0.301 and 0.37; p < 0.05). Elevated expression of IL1β, IL6 was found in peripheral white blood cells (p < 0.01); the levels of IL6 negatively correlated with Modic type 1 and 2 changes (r = –0.31; p < 0.05), and the levels of IL17 positively correlated with the IVD herniation in combination with erosions of the adjacent vertebral body endplates and Modic changes (r = 0.401; p < 0.05). The expression of VEGF-А in the IVD tissues and white blood cells negatively correlated with the DDD grades (r = –0.85; p < 0.001), indicating reduced vascularization in the terminal phase of the disease. The findings on DDD demonstrate the contribution of the local low-immune inflammation, coupled with the intense disc vascularization at the earlier stages, and associated with the reactive inflammation in vertebral bodies. The results are prerequisites for developing the anti-inflammatory and reparative therapy based on the DDD grade and the presence of Modic changes in young adults with BP.