Expression and significance of IL-1α and MMp-2 in herminated lumbar intervertebral disc

Objective To detect the expression of the IL-1α and the MMP-2 protein in lumbar interverbral disc and discuss the role of the IL-1α and the MMP-2 protein in the course of the herniated intervertebral disc.Methods All of samples of herniated lumbar discs was obtained from 42 adult patients operated.They were divided into two groups;22 cases were protrusion type(group A) and 20 cases were sequestration type(group B).As a control group,10 lumbar disc specimens were harvested from 8 patients suffering from acute bursting fracture of lumbar of spine.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect expression of the IL-1α and the MMP-2 protein.Results The expression level of IL-1α and MMP-2 was much higher in group A and B than in the control group.The expression of 1L-1α showed no significant difference between group A(86.36%) and B(85%),while the expression of MMP-2 was higher in group B(63.63% in group B vs 90%in group A).Conclusion The expression levels of IL-1α and MMP-2 are higher in degenerative lumbar intervertebral disc.The up regulation of MMP-2 probably has something to do with the degree of intervertebral disc degeneration,while IL-1α seems not related.The increasing expression of IL-1α and MMP-2 might be one of the reasons the degeneration and prolapse of lumbar intervertebral discs.