Abstract:

BACKGROUND: A great number of animal models were used to study intervertebral disc degeneration, but there is still lack of a consistent with human intervertebral disc degeneration in animal models.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of establishing a intervertebral disc degeneration model with upright position and a model construction with convenience and simple.
METHODS: Totally 42 New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The rabbits were fixed in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. The PVC pipes were upright in the experimental group and the PVC pipes were flat in the control group.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At 4 weeks after modeling, there was no significant difference of the disc height index (DHI), magnatic resonance imaging and annulus change between the experimental group and the control group (P > 0.05). PAS staining of nucleus, the gray value was increased significantly (P < 0.05). At 8, 12 weeks after modeling, there was significant difference of the DHI in the two groups, which has a significant decreased in degenerative disc T2-weighted signal.  Hematoxylin-eosin staining of annulus was disordered arrangement. PAS staining of degenerative disc intervertebral nucleus showed that gray value was significantly larger (P < 0.05). It is indicated that the method of upright position can successfully establishment of disc degeneration model by their own gravity load on the intervertebral disc.