ReviewJOR spine2018
Osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc degeneration: Quite different, quite similar.
Review in JOR spine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 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
62 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Extracellular Vesicles as an Emerging Treatment Option for Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Therapeutic Potential, Translational Pathways, and Regulatory Considerations.Advanced healthcare materials · 2022Pooled it
- GPNMBCell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Familial clustering and physiological risk factors associated with intervertebral disc degeneration in a large population-based cohort.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- The common pathological network of inflammation, extracellular matrix imbalance, and senescence in intervertebral disc degeneration and osteoarthritis.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Plasma Proteomic Profiling Identifies a Six-Protein Panel for Grading and Predicting Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.Journal of proteome research · 2026Article
- DDIT3 drives nucleus pulposus cell PANoptosis and intervertebral disc degeneration progression.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Article
- Sympathetic regulation of bone homeostasis and remodeling: molecular mechanisms, pathophysiological roles, and therapeutic implications.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- From nerve to bone: a tale of autonomic nervous system, bone cells, and beyond.Military Medical Research · 2026Review
- Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications of the sympathetic nervous system in bone-related disorders: a brain-bone axis perspective.Bone research · 2025Review
- An Ex Vivo Model of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration for Assessing Retention of Injectable Cell-Based Grafts.JOR spine · 2025Article
- Biological Sex Is Under-Reported in Cartilage-Related Preclinical Research: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.JOR spine · 2025Article
- Glycolysis-Derived Lactate Induces ACSL4 Expression and Lactylation to Activate Ferroptosis during Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Pyroptosis: A spoiler of peaceful coexistence between cells in degenerative bone and joint diseases.Journal of advanced research · 2025Review
- Bone-brain interaction: mechanisms and potential intervention strategies of biomaterials.Bone research · 2025Review
- Article
- Lactate and lactylation in intervertebral disc degeneration.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Review
- Viscoelastic Hydrogel Promotes Disc Mechanical Homeostasis Repair and Delays Intervertebral Disc Degeneration via the Yes-Associated Protein Pathway.Biomaterials research · 2025Article
- Animal Models of Intervertebral Disc Diseases: Advantages, Limitations, and Future Directions.Neurology international · 2024Review
- Drug retention after intradiscal administration.Drug delivery · 2024Article
- Article
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Intervertebral disc degeneration describes the vicious cycle of the deterioration of intervertebral discs and can eventually result in degenerative disc disease (DDD), which is accompanied by low-back pain, the musculoskeletal disorder with the largest socioeconomic impact world-wide. In more severe stages, intervertebral disc degeneration is accompanied by loss of joint space, subchondral sclerosis, and osteophytes, similar to osteoarthritis (OA) in the articular joint. Inspired by this resemblance, we investigated the analogy between human intervertebral discs and articular joints. Although embryonic origin and anatomy suggest substantial differences between the two types of joint, some features of cell physiology and extracellular matrix in the nucleus pulposus and articular cartilage share numerous parallels. Moreover, there are great similarities in the response to mechanical loading and the matrix-degrading factors involved in the cascade of degeneration in both tissues. This suggests that the local environment of the cell is more important to its behavior than embryonic origin. Nevertheless, OA is widely regarded as a true disease, while intervertebral disc degeneration is often regarded as a radiological finding and DDD is undervalued as a cause of chronic low-back pain by clinicians, patients and society. Emphasizing the similarities rather than the differences between the two diseases may create more awareness in the clinic, improve diagnostics in DDD, and provide cross-fertilization of clinicians and scientists involved in both intervertebral disc degeneration and OA.
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.