ArticleJOR spine2023
Sex differences in the biomechanical and biochemical responses of caudal rat intervertebral discs to injury.
Article in JOR spine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gut-Intervertebral Disc Axis: Gut Microbiome-Driven Immune-Metabolic Imbalance and Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.Journal of cellular physiology · 2026Review
- Sex Hormones Attenuate Pro-Inflammatory Gene Expression in Nucleus Pulposus and Annulus Fibrosus Cells in a Cell-Type Specific Manner.JOR spine · 2026Article
- Glucose concentration modulates bovine intervertebral disc response under physiological loading.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- A Mendelian randomization study to reveal gut-disc axis: causal associations between gut microbiota with intervertebral disc diseases.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
- Article
- Assessment of Tie2-Rejuvenated Nucleus Pulposus Cell Transplants from Young and Old Patient Sources Demonstrates That Age Still Matters.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Sex differences in the biomechanical and biochemical responses of caudal rat intervertebral discs to injury.JOR spine · 2023Article
- Advancing basic and preclinical spine research: Highlights from the ORS PSRS 6th International Spine Research Symposium.JOR spine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a major cause of low back pain (LBP) worldwide. Sexual dimorphism, or sex-based differences, appear to exist in the severity of LBP. However, it is unknown if there are sex-based differences in the inflammatory, biomechanical, biochemical, and histological responses of intervertebral discs (IVDs). Methods: Caudal (Coccygeal/Co) bone-disc-bone motion segments were isolated from multiple spinal levels (Co8 to Co14) of male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Changes in motion segment biomechanics and extracellular matrix (ECM) biochemistry (glycosaminoglycan [GAG], collagen [COL], water, and DNA content) were evaluated at baseline and in response to chemical insult (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) or puncture injury ex vivo. We also investigated the contributions of Toll-like receptor (TLR4) signaling on responses to LPS or puncture injury ex vivo, using a small molecule TLR4 inhibitor, TAK-242. Results: Findings indicate that IVD motion segments from female donors had greater nitric oxide (NO) release in LPS groups compared to male donors. HMGB1 release was increased in punctured discs, but not LPS injured discs, with no sex effect. Although both male and female discs exhibited reductions in dynamic moduli in response to LPS and puncture injuries, dynamic moduli from female donors were higher than male donors across all groups. In uninjured (baseline) samples, a significant sex effect was observed in nucleus pulposus (NP) DNA and water content. Female annulus fibrosus (AF) also had higher DNA, GAG, and COL content (normalized by dry weight), but lower water content than male AF. Additional injury- and sex-dependent effects were observed in AF GAG/DNA and COL/DNA content. Finally, TAK-242 improved the dynamic modulus of female but not male punctured discs. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that there are differences in rat IVD motion segments based on sex, and that the response to injury in inflammatory, biomechanical, biochemical, and histological outcomes also exhibit sex differences. TLR4 inhibition protected against loss of mechanical integrity of puncture-injured IVD motion segments, with differences responses based on donor sex.
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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.