Does long-term compressive loading on the intervertebral disc cause degeneration?
Compression applied to the lumbar intervertebral discs of dogs for up to a year does not produce degeneration in any visible form. It does produce microscopic changes and numerical changes, however, in the amounts of proteoglycan and collagen in the nucleus, inner anulus, and outer anulus. The present results add no credence to the commonly held belief that high compressive forces play a causative role in disc degeneration.
MCD is associated with a reduction in the expression of the gene for VEGF. As VEGF may play an important role in renal repair and survival, it is postulated that the deficiency, which we have shown, may lead to the dysregulation of the repair process in MCD.