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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Jan 18, 2025; 16(1): 102120
Published online Jan 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i1.102120
Published online Jan 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i1.102120
Role of neurogenic inflammation in intervertebral disc degeneration
Bao-Gan Peng, Yong-Chao Li, Department of Orthopaedics, The Third Medical Center, General Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing 100039, China
Liang Yang, Department of Orthopeadics, Featured Medical Center of Chinese People’s Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300000, China
Author contributions: Peng BG, Li YC, and Yang L analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript; All authors contributed equally to this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bao-Gan Peng, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, The Third Medical Center, General Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, No. 69 Yongding Road, Beijing 100039, China. pengbaogan@163.com
Received: October 9, 2024
Revised: November 29, 2024
Accepted: December 20, 2024
Published online: January 18, 2025
Processing time: 96 Days and 0.2 Hours
Revised: November 29, 2024
Accepted: December 20, 2024
Published online: January 18, 2025
Processing time: 96 Days and 0.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The outer layer of the annulus fibrosus and the vertebral endplate are innervated by nociceptive nerves fibers. Injury to the annulus fibrosus or endplate excites nociceptive stimuli, releasing neuropeptides such as substance P and calcitonin gene related peptide, which results in neurogenic inflammation within the intervertebral disc. Neurogenic inflammation further leads to progressive disc degeneration and chronic discogenic pain through complex interactions between the nervous and immune systems.