Radiographic and histologic effects of chondroitinase ABC on normal canine lumbar intervertebral disc

Twelve dogs were divided into two equal groups and given lumbar intradiscal injections of 10, 50, or 100 U/ml of chondroitinase ABC reconstituted in sodium acetate buffer. Radiographs of the lumbar spine were made before and after surgery in both groups. Additional films were made at 5 days after surgery in Group I and at 7, 14, and 21 days after surgery in Group II. All spaces injected with 50 or 100 U/ml chondroitinase ABC demonstrated significant radiographic narrowing in both groups compared with uninjected control and buffer injected discs (P less than 0.001). Discs injected with 10 U/ml of chondroitinase ABC showed increased narrowing over time from 7 to 21 days (P less than 0.05). A zone of safranin O depletion was present in the ventral anulus fibrosus adjacent to the nucleus pulposus in all treated discs, indicating proteoglycan loss. All histologic effects of chondroitinase ABC were confined to intervertebral disc tissues. Chondroitinase ABC appears to be effective for chemonucleolysis in dogs.