INNERVATION OF SENSORY NERVE TERMINALS IN RAT LUMBAR INTERVERTEBRAL DISC AND POSTERIOR LONGITUDINAL LIGAMENT

摘要

Objective To investigate the distribution of sen sory nerve terminals in the lumbar intervertebral disc and posterior longitudina l ligament (PLL) in an animal model. Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to visualize nerve terminals with antibodies of substance P(SP) and calcitonin gene-related pepti de(CGRP), and to characterize sensory nerve terminals on sections from lumbar in tervertebral disc and posterior longitudinal ligament(PLL) of the Sprague Dawley rats.Results The immunostaining revealed an extensive distribution o f SP and CGRP immunoreactive nerve fibers in the surface and most superficial po rtions of all annulus fibrosus and PLL. Most immunoreactions were observed in ve ntral and lateral regions of the annulus fibrosus. Morphologically, both thin va ricose nerve fibers and tiny punctate nerve terminals could be observed. Conclusion This study demonstrates an extensive distribution o f SP and CGRP immunoreactive nerve fibers throughout the PLL and the peripheral annulus fibrosus and provides an illustration of this distribution. This finding supports a role for the disc as a source of low back pain and provides the neur oanatomic foundation of the disc-genic pain.