ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2019
Leptin and the intervertebral disc: a biochemical link exists between obesity, intervertebral disc degeneration and low back pain-an in vitro study in a bovine model.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between body mass index and musculoskeletal disorders among agricultural workers: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- The Role of Piezo 1 in the Study of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Phenotype, Mechanism and Treatment.Orthopaedic surgery · 2026Review
- Leptin Regulates Intervertebral Disc Calcification and Ossification by Promoting Glycolysis Through OCN/HIF-1α Axis.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Revisiting intervertebral disc degeneration: lipid metabolism disorders as overlooked contributors to complex pathology.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Interorgan Communications in Skeletal Pathophysiology: From Molecular Pathways to Multidisciplinary Therapies.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Degenerating intervertebral discs in the streptozotocin-high-fat diet model of type 2 diabetes show extensive inflammation.Disease models & mechanisms · 2025Article
- Musculoskeletal biomarkers in health and disease: implications for the aging spine-a review for spinal surgeons by the SRS adult spinal deformity task force on senescence.Spine deformity · 2025Review
- The transcriptome and secreted factors of the intervertebral discs in STZ-HFD Type 2 diabetic male mice reveal extensive inflammation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The Role of Adipokines in Spinal Disease: A Narrative Review.JOR spine · 2025Review
- Weight-adjusted waist index is associated with risk of poor bone quality rather than low bone mass in patients with type 2 diabetes.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2025Article
- Investigating the epigenetic landscape of symptomatic disk degeneration: a case study.Pain reports · 2025Article
- E74-like ETS transcription factor 3 expression and regulation in human intervertebral disc.JOR spine · 2025Article
- Changes in the Concentration Profile of Selected Micro- and Macro-Elements in the Yellow Ligament Obtained from Patients with Degenerative Stenosis of the Lumbo-Sacral Spine.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Contradictory links between lipid levels and bone health: atherogenic index of plasma and bone microarchitecture.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Article
- The saturation effect of a body shape index on lumbar bone mineral density in US adults: Findings from a nationwide survey.PloS one · 2025Article
- Lipid metabolic disorders and their impact on cartilage endplate and nucleus pulposus function in intervertebral disk degeneration.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying obesity in degenerative spine and joint diseases.Bone research · 2024Review
- The relationship of serum adiponectin and leptin levels with pain, function and intervertebral disc degeneration in patients with chronic low back pain.Turkish journal of physical medicine and rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Estimating the impact of metabolic syndrome on low back pain and the joint effects of metabolic syndrome and depressive symptoms on low back pain: insights from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.BMC public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe aim of this study was to identify the effects of leptin upon the intervertebral disc (IVD) and to determine whether these responses are potentiated within an environment of existing degeneration. Obesity is a significant risk factor for low back pain (LBP) and IVD degeneration. Adipokines, such as leptin, are novel cytokines produced primarily by adipose tissue and have been implicated in degradative and inflammatory processes. Obese individuals are known to have higher concentrations of serum leptin, and IVD cells express leptin receptors. We hypothesise that adipokines, such as leptin, mediate a biochemical link between obesity, IVD degeneration and LBP.
methodsThe bovine intervertebral disc was used as a model system to investigate the biochemical effects of obesity, mediated by leptin, upon the intervertebral disc. Freshly isolated cells, embedded in 3D alginate beads, were subsequently cultured under varying concentrations of leptin, alone or together with the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β or IL-6. Responses in relation to production of nitric oxide, lactate, glycosaminoglycans and expression of anabolic and catabolic genes were analysed.
resultsLeptin influenced the cellular metabolism leading particularly to greater production of proteases and NO. Addition of leptin to an inflammatory environment demonstrated a marked deleterious synergistic effect with greater production of NO, MMPs and potentiation of pro-inflammatory cytokine production.
conclusionsLeptin can initiate processes involved in IVD degeneration. This effect is potentiated in an environment of existing degeneration and inflammation. Hence, a biochemical mechanism may underlie the link between obesity, intervertebral disc degeneration and low back pain. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.