[Determination on contents of matrix metalloproteinase 3 and interleukin 1 in tissues of lumbar disc herniation and their roles in pathogenesis].

Objective: To determine the contents of matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3) and interleukin 1 (IL-1) in the tissues of the lumbar disc herniation and to investigate their roles in the pathogenesis.
Methods: The tissues of the herniated lumbar disc were obtained from 30 patients undergoing surgery for persistent radiculopathy from June 2003 to December 2004 and at the same time these samples were divided into the following three experimental groups: the bulge group (n =11), the protrusion group (n = 9), and the prolapsus group (n = 10), 14 males, 16 females, aged 33-64 years. As the control group, 9 lumbar disc specimens were harvested from 9 patients (4 males, 5 females, aged 21-58 years) suffering from bursting fracture of the lumbar spine. The specimens were analyzed by the ELISA method for the contents of MMP-3 and IL-1.
Results: The contents of MMP-3(14.25+/-1. 32, 19.89+/-2.97, 20.69+/-2.18 ng/ml in the bulge group, protrusion group and prolapsus group, separately) and IL-1 (8.52+/-0.22, 11.88+/-0.52, 11.90+/-0.73 pg/ml in the bulge group, protrusion group and prolapsus group, separately) in the experimental groups were significantly higher than those in the control group. The contents of MMP-3 and IL-1 in the protrusion group were not significantly higher than those in the prolapsus group, but they were significantly higher than those in the bulge group(P<0.01). The contents of MMP-3 had a significant relationship with the contents of IL-1 in the three experimental groups and the control group(P<0. 01).
Conclusion: The result demonstrates that the tissues of the lumbar disc herniation can produce both MMP-3 and IL-1, which may have an unknown but important relationship with each other.