ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2018
Latent infection of low-virulence anaerobic bacteria in degenerated lumbar intervertebral discs.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence for infection in intervertebral disc degeneration: a systematic review.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 · 2022Pooled it
- Recommendations of the International Consensus Meeting (ICM) 2025 on Spinal Infections: Part A Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis.Global spine journal · 2026Article
- Intervertebral disc puncture predisposes the disc to Cutibacterium acnes infection via hematogenous and contiguous routes: a rat model study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Review
- mNGS technique was used to analyze the microbiome structure of intervertebral disc tissue in 99 patients with degenerative disc disease.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 · 2025Article
- Frozen Shoulder as a Metabolic and Immune Disorder: Potential Roles of Leptin Resistance, JAK-STAT Dysregulation, and Fibrosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Preclinical development and characterisation of PP353, a formulation of linezolid for intradiscal administration.JOR spine · 2024Article
- Article
- Frailty is a predictor of immediate postoperative complications following surgical management of knee dislocations.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2024Article
- Induction of cervical disc degeneration and discogenic pain by low concentration Propionibacterium acnes infection: an in vivo animal study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2024Article
- Changes in the composition of the fecal metabolome and gut microbiota contribute to intervertebral disk degeneration in a rabbit model.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2024Article
- Review
- WouldJournal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Association between periodontitis and disc structural failure in older adults with lumbar degenerative disorders: A prospective cohort study.BMC surgery · 2023Article
- Cytokine Imbalance as a Biomarker of Intervertebral Disk Degeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Degenerative Disc Disease of the Spine: From Anatomy to Pathophysiology and Radiological Appearance, with Morphological and Functional Considerations.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Review
- Anaerobic spondylodiscitis: a retrospective analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
- A new immunometabolic perspective of intervertebral disc degeneration.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2022Review
- Clinical Effect of the Treatment of Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Protrusion.Applied bionics and biomechanics · 2022Article
- Chronic pain and infection: mechanisms, causes, conditions, treatments, and controversies.BMJ medicine · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe existence of latent low-virulence anaerobic bacteria in degenerated intervertebral discs (IVDs) remains controversial. In this study, the prevalence of low-virulence anaerobic bacteria in degenerated IVDs was examined, and the correlation between bacterial infection and clinical symptoms was analysed.
methodsEighty patients with disc herniation who underwent discectomy were included in this study. Under a stringent protocol to ensure sterile conditions, 80 disc samples were intraoperatively retrieved and subjected to microbiological culture. Meanwhile, tissue samples from the surrounding muscle and ligaments were harvested and cultured as contamination markers. The severity of IVD degeneration and the prevalence of Modic changes (MCs) were assessed according to preoperative MRI analysis.
resultsOf the 80 cultured discs, 54 were sterile, and 26 showed the presence of bacteria: Propionibacterium acnes (21 cases) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (5 cases). MRI revealed that the presence of bacteria was significantly associated with MCs (P<0.001). However, there was no significant association between bacterial infection and the severity of IVD degeneration (P = 0.162).
conclusionsOur findings further validated the presence of low-virulence anaerobic bacteria in degenerated IVDs, and P. acnes was the most frequent bacterium. In addition, the latent infection of bacteria in IVDs was associated with Modic changes. Therefore, low-virulence anaerobic bacteria may play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of MCs and lumbar disc herniation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.