Neonatal mouse intervertebral discs heal with restored function following herniation injury

What is it about?

Lower back pain is the second most common cause of doctor visits and intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation is a direct cause of pain. Lumbar discectomy is the standard of care for herniation, yet this very common procedure has 5-25% complication rates including re-herniation and recurrent back pain at the same level. Discectomy complications cannot be further reduced by optimizing surgical procedures, but instead, discectomies require a reparative component to greatly reduce complications. This is a highly significant problem since adult human IVDs do not typically heal following herniation. This study develops a neonatal mouse model of regenerative healing in IVDs and identifies important cells and factors involved in injury and repair in neonatal and adult tissues. The neonatal mouse is an exciting model of mammalian regeneration for several tissues, yet the regenerative capacity of the neonatal IVD has not been investigated. This novel model of regenerative IVD healing can be used to probe repair mechanisms that are lacking in adults and may help identify innovative strategies for improved IVD repair to reduce the incidence of back pain. A regenerative AF healing model could provide a substantial benefit of mapping out successful repair strategies in the IVD that may also help identify important sources of cells and molecular healing factors.

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