The Association Between Modic Changes of Lumbar Endplates and Spontaneous Absorption of Herniated Intervertebral Discs.

Abstract

Herniated disc (HD) is one of the most common causes of lower back pain. Treatment for HD includes conservative therapy and surgical intervention. Following conservative treatment, spontaneous absorption of HD occurs in some patients. To assess whether modic changes are associated with spontaneous absorption of HD, 85 patients with or without modic changes were followed up after 6 months of conservative treatment. As result, we found modic changes of lumbar endplates are associated with poor absorption of HD after conservative treatment. In addition, patients with modic changes exhibit significantly increased cartilage content and decreased neovascularization and macrophage infiltration in HD tissues, all of which are known to impair spontaneous absorption of herniated tissues. At molecular level, modic changes are associated with decreased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3 gene, which is a key matrix-degrading enzyme for tissue absorption. Our study established a strong association between modic changes of lumbar endplates and spontaneous absorption of lumbar HD, which provided a potential novel method for prediction of spontaneous absorption.