Evaluation of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging, biochemical and mechanical properties of trypsin-treated intervertebral discs under physiological compression loading
✍ Scribed by Fackson Mwale; Caroline N. Demers; Arthur J. Michalek; Gilles Beaudoin; Tapas Goswami; Lorne Beckman; James C. Iatridis; John Antoniou
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2008
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 436 KB
- Volume
- 27
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1053-1807
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the influence of targeted trypsin digestion and 16 hours compression loading on MR parameters and the mechanical and biochemical properties of bovine disc segments.
Materials and Methods
Twenty‐two 3‐disc bovine coccygeal segments underwent compression loading for 16 hours after the nucleus pulposus (NP) of each disc was injected with a solution of trypsin or buffer. The properties of the NP and annulus fibrosus (AF) tissues of each disc were analyzed by quantitative MRI, biochemical tests, and confined compression tests.
Results
Loading had a significant effect on the MR properties (T~1~, T~2~, T~1ρ~, MTR, ADC) of both the NP and AF tissues. Loading had a greater effect on the MR parameters and biochemical composition of the NP than trypsin. In contrast, trypsin had a larger effect on the mechanical properties. Our data also indicated that localized trypsin injection predominantly affected the NP. T~1ρ~ was sensitive to loading and correlated with the water content of the NP and AF but not with their proteoglycan content.
Conclusion
Our studies indicate that physiological loading is an important parameter to consider and that T~1ρ~ contributes new information in efforts to develop quantitative MRI as a noninvasive diagnostic tool to detect changes in early disc degeneration. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.