Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The disruption of the extracellular disc matrix is a major hallmark of disc degeneration. This has previously been shown to be associated with an up-regulation of major matrix metalloproteinase expression and activity. However, until now hardly any data are available for matrix metalloproteinase regulation and thereby no concept exists as to which matrix metalloproteinase plays a major role in disc degeneration.
OBJECTIVE: To understand the expression and role of matrix metalloproteinase in intervertebral disc degeneration.
METHODS: matrix metalloproteinase relevant articles from Chinese Biomedical Literature Database and Medline database 2000/2010 were retrieved by the first author using key words “matrix metalloproteinases, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases, disc, degeneration, spine, intervertebral” in Chinese and English. A total of 207 papers were retrieved. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 31 papers were included in the final. Then, the development of matrix metalloproteinase expression and regulation on intervertebral disc degeneration was studied.
RESULTS AND CONCLUTION: With deeply research, matrix metalloproteinase may play an important role in intervertebral disc degeneration. There are some evidences to indicate that matrix metalloproteinase can accelerate the progression of disc excellular matrix degeneration