• Seiji Ohtori, Gen Inoue, Yawara Eguchi, Sumihisa Orita, Masashi Takaso, Nobuyasu Ochiai, Shunji Kishida, Kazuki Kuniyoshi, Yasuchika Aoki, Junichi Nakamura, Tetsuhiro Ishikawa, Gen Arai, Masayuki Miyagi, Hiroto Kamoda, Miyako Suzuki, Yoshihiro Sakuma, Yasuhiro Oikawa, Gou Kubota, Kazuhide Inage, Takeshi Sainoh, Tomoaki Toyone, Kazuyo Yamauchi, Toshiaki Kotani, Tsutomu Akazawa, Shohei Minami, and Kazuhisa Takahashi.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. sohtori@faculty.chiba-u.jp
• Spine. 2013 Mar 15;38(6):459-62.

Study DesignImmunohistochemistry for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in nucleus pulposus of adolescent patients with lumbar disc herniation.ObjectiveTo examine whether an inflammatory cytokine is expressed in the nucleus pulposus of adolescent patients with lumbar disc herniation.Summary Of Background DataTNFα is thought to play a crucial role in the radicular pain caused by lumbar disc herniation in adult patients. However, the expression of TNFα in the nucleus pulposus of adolescent patients with lumbar disc herniation has not been explored.MethodsFive samples of nucleus pulposus from adolescent patients with lumbar disc herniation (age, 12-16 yr; n = 5) or controls requiring surgery for other back problems (age, 12-16 yr; n = 4; nonpainful scoliosis) were harvested during surgery. Nucleus pulposus specimens were immunostained using TNFα antibodies and immunostained cells in the nucleus pulposus were counted. We compared the expression of TNFα between the 2 groups.ResultsIn patients with lumbar disc herniation, more TNFα-immunoreactive cells were seen in the nucleus pulposus in comparison with patients with nonpainful scoliosis (P < 0.01).ConclusionThe results suggest that TNFα may play a role in adolescent patients with lumbar disc herniation. The TNFα expression may be related with disc degeneration and pain in adolescent patients with lumbar disc herniation.

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