ArticleArthritis research & therapy2013
Hyaluronic acid fragments enhance the inflammatory and catabolic response in human intervertebral disc cells through modulation of toll-like receptor 2 signalling pathways.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 93 citations in OpenAlex.
- Revisiting intervertebral disc degeneration: lipid metabolism disorders as overlooked contributors to complex pathology.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- What a pain in the back: etiology, diagnosis and future treatment directions for discogenic low back pain.Bone research · 2025Review
- Bioactive Therapies for Degenerative Disc Disease: Microenvironmental Foundations of Disease.World neurosurgery · 2025Review
- Polysaccharide-based biomaterials for regenerative therapy in intervertebral disc degeneration.Materials today. Bio · 2025Review
- Intravenous Administration of Hyaluronan in Veterinary Musculoskeletal Disorders: Therapeutic Applications and Mechanisms.International journal of veterinary science and medicine · 2025Review
- Article
- Stimuli-Responsive Delivery Systems for Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.International journal of nanomedicine · 2024Review
- From drugs to biomaterials: a review of emerging therapeutic strategies for intervertebral disc inflammation.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
- Sex differences in the biomechanical and biochemical responses of caudal rat intervertebral discs to injury.JOR spine · 2023Article
- Updates on Pathophysiology of Discogenic Back Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Improved Cartilage Protection with Low Molecular Weight Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Immunomorphogenesis in Degenerative Disc Disease: The Role of Proinflammatory Cytokines and Angiogenesis Factors.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Blocking toll-like receptor 4 mitigates static loading induced pro-inflammatory expression in intervertebral disc motion segments.Journal of biomechanics · 2023Article
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of the 35kDa Hyaluronic Acid Fragment (B-HA/HA35).Journal of inflammation research · 2023Article
- Circular RNA and intervertebral disc degeneration: unravelling mechanisms and implications.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2023Review
- Amygdalin Delays Cartilage Endplate Degeneration and Improves Intervertebral Disc Degeneration by Inhibiting NF-κB Signaling Pathway and Inflammatory Response.Journal of inflammation research · 2023Article
- Natural products can modulate inflammation in intervertebral disc degeneration.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
- Mechanobiology of MicroRNAs in Intervertebral Disk Degeneration.Journal of spine research and surgery · 2023Article
- Extracellular matrix in intervertebral disc: basic and translational implications.Cell and tissue research · 2022Review
- Ganoderic Acid A Attenuates IL-1β-Induced Inflammation in Human Nucleus Pulposus Cells Through Inhibiting the NF-κB Pathway.Inflammation · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIntervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is characterized by extracellular matrix breakdown and is considered to be a primary cause of discogenic back pain. Although increases in pro-inflammatory cytokine levels within degenerating discs are associated with discogenic back pain, the mechanisms leading to their overproduction have not yet been elucidated. As fragmentation of matrix components occurs during IVD degeneration, we assessed the potential involvement of hyaluronic acid fragments (fHAs) in the induction of inflammatory and catabolic mediators.
methodsHuman IVD cells isolated from patient biopsies were stimulated with fHAs (6 to 12 disaccharides) and their effect on cytokine and matrix degrading enzyme production was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The involvement of specific cell surface receptors and signal transduction pathways in mediating the effects of fHAs was tested using small interfering RNA (siRNA) approaches and kinase inhibition assays.
resultsTreatment of IVD cells with fHAs significantly increased mRNA expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and -13. The stimulatory effects of fHAs on IL-6 protein production were significantly impaired when added to IVD cells in combination with either Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 siRNA or a TLR2 neutralizing antibody. Furthermore, the ability of fHAs to enhance IL-6 and MMP-3 protein production was found to be dependent on the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling pathway.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that fHAs may have the potential to mediate IVD degeneration and discogenic back pain through activation of the TLR2 signaling pathway in resident IVD cells.
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