This study demonstrates the prevalence of infection in different tissue and serum samples in patients with disc structural failure. There seems to be a significant association between disc infection and endplate changes. Currently there is insufficient evidence to implicate low virulence organisms' infection as a cause for intervertebral disc degeneration, low back pain, and disability. Standardizing sample collection, standardizing testing methods, and having a consensus on the definition of sampling contamination, with consistent reporting of multicenter registry studies will allow more meaningful analysis in the future.

We identified individuals in the Osteoarthritis Initiative with low back pain and developed a machine learning approach to screen hundreds of variables for the most influential in pain chronicity and severity. We found that socioeconomic factors played a greater role than traditional biomedical descriptors of spine disease (age, sex, BMI).

This study compared manual/conventional vs rotary, osseodensification (OD) instrumentation of the osteotomy while simultaneously testing the effect of macrogeometry modifications (traditional versus compacting thread design) of pedicle screws in a large, translational preclinical animal model. Lumbar spinal fusion procedures have experienced a growth toward instability and deformity conditions, primarily among the elderly (65+ years old) and patients diagnosed with co-morbidities such as osteoporosis. Literature has indicated that biomechanical success is influenced by a variety of variables (i.e., device's geometry, osteotomy preparation, etc.). The presented work, data and analyses, demonstrated that additive, rotary osseodensification instrumentation yielded improved mechanical and histologic results in lumbar spine stabilization relative to the conventional instrumentation technique.

To understand the ability of current clinical MRI techniques to assess the health of the facet joint and facet joint articular cartilage, we compared MRI-scores of facet joint health (Fujiwara scale) with facet joint cartilage mechanics and structure. Cartilage mechanics and structure showed no correlation with Fujiwara scores.

The mechanism of NOTCH signaling and regulating DLX-5 medited osteogenic differentiation

CCR6 and IL-6 gene expression in the IVD was associated with postoperative LBP intensity and may therefore indicate a need for postoperative pain management.

Multiple techniques have been considered to perform a nuclectomy, however, the advantages and disadvantages of each are not well understood. This in vitro biomechanical investigation on human cadaveric specimens aimed to quantitatively compare three nuclectomy techniques performed using an automated shaver, rongeurs, and laser.

The biocompatibility testing confirmed that all constituents of the novel disc spacer are biocompatible. The mechanical tests on the surrogate annulus model confirmed that the elastomeric nucleus device may mimic native disc behavior in mechanical tests, offering an effective way for treating lumbar disc herniation by way of Phase II and subsequent clinical trials or postmarket surveillance in the future.

This study assessed the initial biomechanical effect of the bioAID on the kinematic behavior of the canine spine, an ex vivo biomechanical study in 6-degrees-of-freedom was performed. The results that the bioAID can mimic the kinematic behavior of the replaced intervertebral disc and preserves that for the adjacent levels better than fusion.

Multiplex CRISPR epigenome editing of ion channel expression in nociceptive neurons abolished degenerative IVD-induced mechanical nociception in an in vitro model of discogenic back pain. These results demonstrate multiplex epigenome editing of nociceptive neurons as a potential neuromodulation strategy for discogenic back pain and other chronic pain conditions.

This study investigates the role of the advanced glycation endproduct (AGE) receptors RAGE and Gal3 in modulating collagen damage using intervertebral disc organ culture models with genetically modified mice. AGE challenge induced collagen damage and altered biomechanical properties in IVD organ cultures ex vivo. Gal3 was protective and RAGE presence was necessary for AGE-induced collagen damage.