CULTURED, AUTOLOGOUS NUCLEUS PULPOSUS CELLS INDUCE FUNCTIONAL-CHANGESIN SPINAL NERVE ROOTS

Study Design. Nerve conduction velocity in pig nerve roots was assesse d after application of Various preparations of nucleus pulposus and co ntrol. Objective. To study whether cultured nucleus pulposus cells cou ld reduce nerve conduction velocity after epidural application. Summar y of Background Data. It is known that nucleus pulposus applied epidur ally may reduce the nerve conduction velocity of the adjacent nerve ro ots and that this reduction seems to be related to the cells of the nu cleus pulposus. Methods. Nucleus pulposus cells and fibroblasts were c ultured for 3 weeks, and various preparations were applied to the caud a equina in 29 pigs. The cells were always from the same animals from which they had been harvested. After 1 week, nerve conduction velocity was determined by local electrical stimulation.Results. Application o f live fibroblasts and conditioned culture medium from the nucleus pul posus cell culture dishes did not induce significant reduction of cond uction velocity, compared with application of dead fibroblasts, which served as control. However, application of live and dead nucleus pulpo sus cells induced significant reductions. Conclusions. Application of nucleus pulposus cells reproduced the previously seen reduction in ner ve conduction velocity induced by nonmodified nucleus pulposus, Becaus e membranes of the nucleus pulposus cells had similar effects, it can be assumed that the effects are related to membrane-bound substances o r structures.