TY - JOUR T1 - The Effect of Sustained Compression on Oxygen Metabolic Transport in the Intervertebral Disc Decreases with Degenerative Changes A1 - Malandrino, Andrea A1 - Noailly, Jérôme A1 - Lacroix, Damien Y1 - 2011/08/04 N2 - Author Summary Low back pain is a very common pathology in industrialized countries, often due to bad posture. It is also highly related to intervertebral disc aging. Aging of the disc is a normal process characterized by series of changes in its structure and function. The events that convert normal aging into degenerative disease is still not clear. Complications such as limited nutrition and possible reduction of disc cells with age make the issue intricate and multi-factorial. Using a numerical model that includes both nutritional and mechanical components, we found two different situations when looking at the effect of external loadings on two important cell solutes related with disc metabolism: oxygen and lactate. The effect of mechanical loading was greater when compressing a healthy disc than a degenerated one and promoted fluctuations of solutes concentrations. Also, changes in cell density seem fundamental in the process of disc degeneration and its causality with other degenerative changes should be further investigated. The importance of both mechanical and cellular patterns to maintain a healthy condition provides new insights to the field of disc regenerative medicine. JF - PLOS Computational Biology JA - PLOS Computational Biology VL - 7 IS - 8 UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002112 SP - e1002112 EP - PB - Public Library of Science M3 - doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002112 ER -