Changes in Elements and Relationships among Elements in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Abstract

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a complex and progressive process of disc aging. One of the most important causes of changes in the internal environment, leading to IVDD, can be changes in the concentration of individual metal elements. This study aimed to analyze the concentrations of copper, iron, manganese, lead, zinc, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium in the degenerated intervertebral discs of the lumbosacral spine, compared to healthy intervertebral discs. The study group (S) consisted of 113 Caucasian patients, qualified by a specialist surgeon for IVDD of the lumbosacral spine. The control group (C) consisted of 81 individuals. The biological material was obtained from Caucasian human cadavers during post-mortem examination. The concentrations of individual elements were assessed using inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Statistically significant differences in the concentrations of microelements, depending on the degree of pain intensity, were noted for only potassium (p < 0.05). Statistically significant differences in the concentrations of the assessed microelements, depending on the degree of radiological advancement of the lesions, were noted for copper and iron (p < 0.05). In the degenerated intervertebral discs, the strongest relationships were noted between the concentrations of zinc and lead (r = 0.67; p < 0.05), zinc and phosphorus (r = 0.74; p < 0.05), and zinc and calcium (r = 0.77; p < 0.05). It has been indicated that, above all, the concentrations of copper and iron depend on the advancement of radiological changes, according to the Pfirrmann scale; however, no influence on the pain intensity, depending on the concentration of the assessed elements, was found.

SP1/CTR1 mediated oxidative stress-induced cuproptosis in intervertebral disk degeneration

“…Knockdown of FDX1 alleviated cell death, suggesting the presence of cuproptosis in IDD. Trace element analysis revealed that a higher concentration of copper was found in healthy disks than in IDD disks 41 . The upregulation of cuproptosis proteins coupled with the simultaneous reduction in detectable dry weight of copper in IDD suggests that the regulation of copper homeostasis may play a critical role in this phenomenon.…”

Unravelling diagnostic clusters and immune landscapes of cuproptosis patterns in intervertebral disc degeneration through dry and wet experiments

“…Cuproptosis is a copper-triggered manner of mitochondrial cell death [ 38 ]. Mounting evidence has revealed that copper metabolism plays an important role in multiple biological processes of IDD [ 14 , 39 ]. It has been verified that copper complexes exert a toxic and immunogenic effect on intervertebral discs [ 15 ], suggesting that cuproptosis may exist in the pathological process of IDD.…”

“…Abnormalities in copper metabolism can trigger multiple disorders such as obesity [ 9 ], glioblastoma [ 10 ], acute myeloid leukaemia [ 11 ], type 2 diabetes [ 12 ], and various malignancies [ 13 ]. With the further study on copper, researchers have found that the concentration of copper element shows significant differences between the tissues of IDD and normal controls [ 14 ], and copper could result in severe disc degeneration [ 15 ]. Therefore, we hypothesize that cuproptosis may influence the pathogenesis of IDD by modifying the transcript level of genes related to cuproptosis.…”

GREM1, LRPPRC and SLC39A4 as potential biomarkers of intervertebral disc degeneration: a bioinformatics analysis based on multiple microarray and single-cell sequencing data

“…The connection between genes involved in zinc metabolism and IVDD has not been extensively studied. Staszkiewicz R et al [ 64 ] investigated the relationship between the concentration of local metal ions in the patient’s disc tissue and the degree of progression of IVDD. They discovered that the strongest relationships were noted between the concentrations of zinc.…”