ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2021
Terminal complement complex formation is associated with intervertebral disc degeneration.
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, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mapping the degenerating intervertebral disc: a systematic review of histological evidence.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- Lumbar degenerative disease: association of serum complement levels with diagnosis, structural severity, and postoperative prognosis.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 · 2026Article
- Do microenvironmental changes in degenerative disc disease reflect in systemic circulation? A proteomic investigation.Clinical proteomics · 2025Article
- Analysis of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Induced by Endplate Drilling or Needle Puncture in Complement C6-Sufficient and C6-Deficient Rabbits.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Identification of key eRNAs for intervertebral disc degeneration by integrated multinomial bioinformatics analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Review
- Terminal complement complex deposition on chondrocytes promotes premature senescence in age- and trauma-related osteoarthritis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Article
- Modic type 2 changes are fibroinflammatory changes with complement system involvement adjacent to degenerated vertebral endplates.JOR spine · 2023Article
- Functional Loss of Terminal Complement Complex Protects Rabbits from Injury-Induced Osteoarthritis on Structural and Cellular Level.Biomolecules · 2023Article
- Current status and development direction of immunomodulatory therapy for intervertebral disk degeneration.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- Degenerative Disc Disease of the Spine: From Anatomy to Pathophysiology and Radiological Appearance, with Morphological and Functional Considerations.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Review
- Subclinical infection can be an initiator of inflammaging leading to degenerative disk disease: evidence from host-defense response mechanisms.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 · 2021Article
- Interleukin-1β and cathepsin D modulate formation of the terminal complement complex in cultured human disc tissue.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 · 2021Article
- M2a Macrophage-Secreted CHI3L1 Promotes Extracellular Matrix Metabolic ImbalancesFrontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Interleukin-1β More Than Mechanical Loading Induces a Degenerative Phenotype in Human Annulus Fibrosus Cells, Partially Impaired by Anti-Proteolytic Activity of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe complement system is a crucial part of innate immunity. Recent work demonstrated an unexpected contribution to tissue homeostasis and degeneration. This study investigated for the first time, in human disc tissues, the deposition profile of the complement activation product terminal complement complex (TCC), an inflammatory trigger and inducer of cell lysis, and its inhibitor CD59, and their correlation with the degree of disc degeneration (DD).
methodsDisc biopsies were collected from patients diagnosed with DD (n = 39, age 63 ± 12) and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS, n = 10, age 17 ± 4) and compared with discs from healthy Young (n = 11, age 7 ± 7) and Elder (n = 10, age 65 ± 15) donors. Immunohistochemical detection of TCC and CD59 in nucleus pulposus (NP), annulus fibrosus (AF) and endplate (EP) was correlated with age, Pfirrmann grade and Modic changes.
resultsHigher percentage of TCC+ cells was detected in the NP and EP of DD compared to Elder (P < 0.05), and in the EP of Young versus Elder (P < 0.001). In DD, TCC deposition was positively correlated with Pfirrmann grade, but not with Modic changes, whereas for Young donors, a negative correlation was found with age, indicating TCC's involvement not only in DD, but also in early stages of skeletal development. Higher CD59 positivity was found in AIS and DD groups compared to Young (P < 0.05), and it was negatively correlated with the age of the patients.
conclusionTCC deposition positively correlated with the degree of disc degeneration. A functional relevance of TCC may exist in DD, representing a potential target for new therapeutics.
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