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A preliminary study of mechanically stress-induced changes in the extracellular matrix of the canine intervertebral
N S Vasan1, E W Gutteling, C K Lee
1Department of Anatomy, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark.
Spine
|March 1, 1991
Abstract:
The intervertebral discs of a young (age, 3 years) and an old (age, 8 years) dog were isolated as motion segments and cyclically stressed in physiologic nondestructive axial compression loads. Chemical analysis of the matrix of the annulus fibrosus revealed a shift in proteoglycan molecular size from larger to smaller moieties for the older dog but not for the younger. These preliminary results may indicate an age-related inability of the disc to tolerate cyclic stress.