Exogenous Crosslinking Restores Intradiscal Pressure of Injured Porcine Intervertebral Discs: An In Vivo Examination...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Orthopedics
• Spine Surgery

Background:

• Disc biomechanical performance relies on intradiscal pressure and mechanical properties.
• Genipin crosslinking shows in vitro potential for enhancing intervertebral joint stability and annulus fibrosus properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if injectable genipin crosslinking can acutely restore intradiscal pressure in stab-injured discs in vivo.
• To assess the short-term efficacy of genipin treatment on disc injury.

Main Methods:

• An in vivo study using a swine lumbar disc injury model created by annular puncture.
• Quantitative discomanometry (QD) was used to measure intradiscal pressure (leakage and saturation pressure/volume) in four groups: intact, injured, untreated, and genipin-crosslinked.
• Measurements were taken immediately post-injury for intact/injured groups and one week post-treatment for untreated/crosslinked groups.

Main Results:

• Annular puncture significantly reduced leakage and saturation pressures compared to intact discs.
• Untreated injured discs showed pressures similar to injured levels but with increased saturation volume.
• Genipin-crosslinked discs demonstrated substantial increases in leakage pressure (617%) and saturation pressure (473%) compared to untreated discs.

Conclusions:

• Annular puncture injury in discs leads to immediate and significant reduction in intradiscal pressure.
• Genipin crosslinking effectively restores intradiscal pressure in vivo following acute disc injury.
• The genipin treatment appears safe, showing no obvious morbidity associated with the injection.