Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Oct 17:15:5857-5871.
doi: 10.2147/JIR.S382069. eCollection 2022.

Pyroptosis and Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Implications

Yuying Ge #  1 , Yuying Chen #  2 , Chijiao Guo #  1 , Huan Luo  3 , Fangda Fu  1   4 , Weifeng Ji  1   4 , Chengliang Wu  1   4 , Hongfeng Ruan  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Pyroptosis and Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Implications

Yuying Ge et al. J Inflamm Res. .

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is a common problem worldwide, resulting in great patient suffering and great challenges for the social health system. Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration (IVDD) is widely acknowledged as one of the key causes of LBP. Accumulating evidence suggests that aberrant pyroptosis of IVD cells is involved in the pathogenesis of IVDD progression, however, the comprehensive roles of pyroptosis in IVDD have not been fully established, leaving attempts to treat IVDD with anti-pyroptosis approaches questionable. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of pyroptosis and emphasize the effects of IVD cell pyroptosis on the pathological progression of IVDD, including secretion of cytokines, nucleus pulposus cell apoptosis and autophagy, accelerated extracellular matrix degradation, annulus fibrosus rupture, cartilage endplate calcification, vascularization, sensory and sympathetic fiber neoinnervation, and infiltrating lymphatic vessels. Finally, we discuss several interventions used to treat IVDD by targeting pyroptosis. This review provides novel insights into the crucial role of IVD cell pyroptosis in IVDD pathogenesis, and could be informative for developing novel therapeutic approaches for IVDD and LBP.

Keywords: anti-pyroptotic approach; inflammasome; intervertebral disc degeneration; low back pain; pyroptosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A schematic model depicting the activation process of cell pyroptosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Potential roles of pyroptosis in the pathogenesis of IVDD disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhou M, Wang H, Zeng X, et al. Mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in China and its provinces, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2019;394(10204):1145–1158. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30427-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Molinos M, Almeida CR, Caldeira J, Cunha C, Gonçalves RM, Barbosa MA. Inflammation in intervertebral disc degeneration and regeneration. J R Soc Interface. 2015;12(104):20141191. doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.1191 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gong CY, Zhang HH. Autophagy as a potential therapeutic target in intervertebral disc degeneration. Life Sci. 2021;273:119266. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119266 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Devereaux MW. Anatomy and examination of the spine. Neurol Clin. 2007;25(2):331–351. doi:10.1016/j.ncl.2007.02.003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dou Y, Sun X, Ma X, Zhao X, Yang Q. Intervertebral disk degeneration: the microenvironment and tissue engineering strategies. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021;9:592118. doi:10.3389/fbioe.2021.592118 - DOI - PMC - PubMed