title: Qualitative and quantitative assessment of collagen and elastin in annulus fibrosus of the physiologic and scoliotic intervertebral discs.
abstract: The biophysical properties of the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc are determined by collagen and elastin fibres. The progression of scoliosis is accompanied by a number of pathological changes concerning these structural proteins. This is a major cause of dysfunction of the intervertebral disc. The object of the study were annulus fibrosus samples excised from intervertebral discs of healthy subjects and patients treated surgically for scoliosis in the thoracolumbar or lumbar spine. The research material was subjected to structural analysis by light microscopy and quantitative analysis of the content of collagen types I, II, III and IV as well as elastin by immunoenzymatic test (ELISA). A statistical analysis was conducted to assess the impact of the sampling site (Mann-Whitney test, α=0.05) and scoliosis (Wilcoxon matched pairs test, α=0.05) on the obtained results. The microscopic studies conducted on scoliotic annulus fibrosus showed a significant architectural distortion of collagen and elastin fibres. Quantitative biochemical assays demonstrated region-dependent distribution of only collagen types I and II in the case of healthy intervertebral discs whereas in the case of scoliotic discs region-dependent distribution concerned all examined proteins of the extracellular matrix. Comparison of scoliotic and healthy annulus fibrosus revealed a significant decrease in the content of collagen type I and elastin as well as a slight increase in the proportion of collagen types III and IV. The content of collagen type II did not differ significantly between both groups. The observed anomalies are a manifestation of degenerative changes affecting annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc in patients suffering from scoliosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mechatronics and Theory of Mechanisms, Wroclaw University of Technology, Łukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobielarz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mechatronics and Theory of Mechanisms, Wroclaw University of Technology, Łukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: szoteks@pwr.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Sylwia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Szotek
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Orthopaedics, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, 28 Czerwca 1956r., 61-545 Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Głowacki
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Clinic Brynów, Brynowska 25c, 40-585 Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dawidowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mechatronics and Theory of Mechanisms, Wroclaw University of Technology, Łukasiewicza 7/9, 50-371 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Celina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pezowicz
mesh_terms: D000070616:Annulus Fibrosus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D004549:Elastin / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen; D004549:Elastin
keywords: Annulus fibrosus of intervertebral disc; Collagen; ELISA; Elastin; Histopathology; Scoliosis