ABSTRACT
Back pain is the most prevalent cause of disability in our society and has a huge socioeconomic impact because of explicit cost for the treatments and implicit costs, such as loss of productivity. There are two mechanisms of intervertebral disc degeneration that may contribute to back pain: loss of disc structure and mechanical properties, and a release of mediators that may sensitize nerve endings (1). Conventional and current treatments for disc degenerative disease include medication, physical therapy, intradiscal electrothermal therapy, and surgeries such as artificial nucleus pulposus replacement, intervertebral disc prostheses, and spinal fusion. These treatments may reduce pain; however, they cannot physically repair the affected intervertebral disc. An ideal treatment for degenerative disc disease, therefore, is to biologically repair the affected intervertebral disc and reduce pain. The biochemistry of the intervertebral disc plays an important role in its mechanical properties (2). Imbalance in organ homeostasis leads to intervertebral disc degeneration. It is thought that repair or regeneration of the degenerated intervertebral disc with the suppression of pain is a key for biological manipulation in a future treatment option.
