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Query: HUMANGGP:031673 (collagen)
 124,196 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sera from 23 patients with chronic low back pain, 20 rheumatoid patients and 16 normal controls were tested for antibodies to collagen types I, II and III, both native and denatured, by haemagglutination. Weak reactions against denatured collagen types I and II were found in 30-40% of the sera. Sera from individuals with rheumatoid arthritis or chronic low back pain behaved similarly, while only one normal serum showed any positive reaction. Reactions to denatured collagen type III and to native collagen of all 3 types were largely negative. Non-antibody serum components were thought to be responsible for these haemagglutination reactions since weakly positive reactions were abolished by cryoprecipitation and could not be confirmed by a solid-phase fluorimetric assay. Using the latter technique sera from 62 rheumatoid patients were screened for antibodies to type II collagen (native and denatured) and only one positive serum found. We conclude that haemagglutination is subject to false positive reactions and that the incidence of anticollagen antibodies in sera from patients with rheumatoid arthritis or chronic low back pain is low.
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PMID:Anomalous reactions in the haemagglutination assay for anti-collagen antibodies: studies on patients with rheumatoid arthritis or chronic low back pain. 51 69

New data concerning the epidemiology, etiology, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment of low back pain have been reported over the past year. Low back pain remains an expensive health problem for our country costing an estimated 24 billion dollars in direct medical expenses. The degeneration of intervertebral disks may be associated with the appearance of increased amounts of specific collagen types that are not present in normal disk specimens. In an important study of monozygotic twins, smoking was identified as an independent variable associated with advanced degeneration of intervertebral disks. Sacral insufficiency fractures are a significant cause of back pain particularly in elderly individuals with predisposing disorders and medications. Radiographic techniques continue to improve and offer earlier detection of the anatomic abnormalities associated with clinical disorders including inflammatory myelitis. Epidural corticosteroid injections are helpful for decreasing symptoms of radiculopathy, but the injections may only be placed in the correct location in the epidural space 50% of the time unless corroborated by radiographic techniques. Chiropractors suggest that manipulation therapy is cost effective for treatment of low back pain in comparison with therapies given by physicians.
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PMID:Epidemiology, etiology, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment of low back pain. 153 76

In spite of billions of dollars spent annually on research and treatment of low back pain (LBP) in Western industrialized cultures, the cause(s) of this complaint remain obscure. The modern sedentary lifestyle is hypothesized to create disuse changes beginning with muscle, which ultimately causes interference with the adaptive and structural dynamics of specialized connective tissue. Calcium-glycosaminoglycan kinetics play a central role in the proposed sequence of events leading to collagen dehydration, fibrillation, and ultimately gross structural incompetence.
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PMID:A molecular basis for low back pain in Western industrialized cultures. 215 Oct 51

Biopsies of supraspinous ligaments (SSL), interspinous ligaments (ISL) and ligamenta flava (LF), removed at operation from 12 patients aged from 17 to 77 years, were examined by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The structure of normal ligaments was first established, and then a comparison between normal and pathological ligaments was made. It was found that the SSL and ISL were composed of collagen, while the LF contained predominantly elastic fibres. In normal ligaments, a helical arrangement of the collagen fibrils was found. The fascicles were characterized by a regular waviness. Proteoglycan filaments were demonstrated in the three types of ligaments, forming a regular interfibrillar linking between adjacent collagen fibrils. Degenerative changes were found in most of the ligaments obtained from patients with disc herniation. On light microscopy, metaplasia into fibrocartilage and calcification was commonly seen. Ultrastructurally, the flattened fibroblasts were replaced by chondrocytic cells, and an accumulation of proteoglycans with a random arrangement and a cellular necrosis was encountered. The relevance of these degenerative changes to the mechanical properties and to low back pain is discussed.
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PMID:[Study of the microscopic structure of the posterior ligaments of the lumbar spine]. 259 94

Five women with Marfan syndrome had abnormalities of the sacrum disclosed by computed tomography. Each had evidence of expansion of the central sacral spinal canal and enlargement of sacral foramina associated with extensive bony erosion. Three patients complained of low back pain, two were asymptomatic. Sacral meningoceles were demonstrated in three cases (including two of the three with symptoms). A fourth patient had a thoracic meningocele. The sacral abnormalities are attributed to defective collagen resulting in expansion of weakened dura which leads to pressure erosion of contiguous osseous structures.
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PMID:Sacral abnormalities in Marfan syndrome. 622 26

A 46 years old woman presented with several years history of low back pain. For five years she suffered from weakness of the left lower limb and three years later she experienced an episode of right foot weakness. She suffered too from occasional urinary urgency. The examination showed decreased power and diminished sensory perception in the left leg. On myelography, a block at L2 level was observed. RMI evaluation showed an intramedullary cyst in the anterior part of the spinal cord without any enhancement of its wall by the Gadolinium. At operation a thin-wall cyst was found containing clear fluid. After a biopsy of the wall, a cystosubarachnoid shunt was performed. Histological examination of the surgical sample showed a simple cuboidal epithelium lying on collagen fibrills. Electron microscopic studies showed ciliated cells with a clearly-visible basement membrane. The diagnosis of neurenteric cyst was confirmed. In the postoperative course the patient complained about sensory loss of the legs and the perineal area. Six months later, she exhibited a sensory disturbance of the feet and the right sacral area, a motor deficit of the distal left leg without urinary disturbance. Neurenteric cysts are dysraphic lesions which can be observed without other abnormalities. They are usually extramedullary and the intramedullary forms are very rare: among 5 cases reported in the literature, one has been evaluated by RMI. In the absence of enhancement by the Gadolinium, the other possible diagnosis seems an ependymal cyst. Contrary to extramedullary forms the postoperative course of intramedullary neurenteric cysts are not always eventful. Because the cyst wall cannot be removed, repeated RMI are desirable in the follow-up.
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PMID:Intramedullary neurenteric cyst without any associated malformation. One case evaluated by RMI and electron microscopic study. 935 95

Epidural steroid injections are commonly used in the treatment of low back pain and radiculopathy based on their antiinflammatory and analgesic benefits. However, steroids are known to affect collagen synthesis, material strength, and tissue healing. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of serial epidural steroid injections on the material properties of the lumbar dura mater. Serial epidural steroid injections of saline or methylprednisolone at 2-week intervals were performed in three paired groups of canines; a separate noninjected group was used as controls. Postmortem, dural sample testing to failure and histologic analysis was performed. Mechanical failure testing revealed no clinically significant change in the transverse dorsal dura tensile strength between all saline-injected, steroid-injected, or noninjected controls. Histologic analysis demonstrated no overt disruption of collagen matrix organization; however, electron microscopy demonstrated a significant decrease in the number of intracytoplasmic mitochondria of dural fibroblasts in steroid-injected animals, suggesting a metabolic inhibitory effect within steroid-injected dura mater. In the clinical time frame of this study, serial epidural steroid injections appeared to produce no significant material or matrix changes in the lumbar dura.
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PMID:Effects of epidural steroids on lumbar dura material properties. 1045 Oct 50

An international congress about "the back of children and teenagers and the prevention of backache" was held in March 1999 in Grenoble (France). Beside specific low back pain following progressive and growth diseases, special attention was paid to non-specific low back pain (LBP). Some epidemiological data show a high incidence of LBP during and after the rapid growth phase, with the concomitant possibility of continued or recurrent evolution. MRI studies reveal frequent signs of disc degeneration: they start after the growth phase, spread during adolescence and are often correlated with backache. An immunohistological study seems to confirm the presence of degenerative-type alterations and changes in collagen in the vertebral plates and nucleus of juvenile spine. These data must be confirmed, and their relation to natural history and prognosis of juvenile LBP have to be clarified by longitudinal studies.
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PMID:Why the back of the child? 1066 98

The bark of Salix species contains several prodrugs of salicylate, mainly salicin. The aim of this study was to investigate if during pain treatment with Salicis cortex extract platelet aggregation was affected. A total of 51 patients were enrolled in the study. Thirty-five patients suffering from acute exacerbations of chronic low back pain received randomly and double-blind either Salicis cortex extract with 240 mg salicin/day (n = 19) or placebo (n = 16). Further sixteen patients with stable chronic ischemic heart disease were given 100 mg acetylsalicylate per day. Platelet aggregation was studied using an aggregometer. As aggregating agents, arachidonic acid (500 micrograms/ml), adenosine di-phosphate (2 x 10(-5) M) and collagen (0.18 microgram/ml) were used. The mean maximal arachidonic acid induced platelet aggregation was 61%, 78% and 13% in the Salicis cortex extract, placebo and acetylsalicylate groups. Acetylsalicylate had a significant inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation compared to Salicis cortex extract (p = 0.001) and placebo (p = 0.001). There was also a significant difference between the placebo and the willow bark-treated groups in the maximal platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid (p = 0.04) and ADP (p = 0.01). No statistical difference was found between the groups when collagen was applied to the human platelets. Daily consumption of Salicis cortex extract with 240 mg salicin per day affects platelet aggregation to a far lesser extent than acetylsalicylate. Further investigation needs to clarify if this finding is of clinical relevance in patients with impaired thrombocyte function.
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PMID:Effect of salicis cortex extract on human platelet aggregation. 1134 89

Clinically, we have observed that a large proportion of patients presenting with low back pain as the chief complaint are smokers. It was therefore postulated that smoking might affect the intervertebral disc. We investigated the histological and functional effects of nicotine on intervertebral discs in rabbits. Rabbits were implanted subcutaneously with minipumps for the delivery of 200 microg/ml nicotine for 4 or 8 weeks. The selected dose produced blood nicotine levels equivalent to those found in heavy smokers (30 cigarettes/day). Nicotine injection caused necrosis and fibrous tissue and vitreous formation in the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc, as well as hypertrophy of the fibrous ring, with partial cracks and detachment. Measurement of collagen and proteoglycan production in intervertebral discs showed reduced synthesis of these proteins in nicotine-treated rabbits compared with the control findings. Our results indicated that the harmful effects of nicotine on the integrity of the intervertebral disc might be mediated by the direct effect of nicotine, or indirectly, by causing vasoconstriction of the vascular network surrounding the intervertebral discs.
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PMID:Effects of nicotine on the intervertebral disc: an experimental study in rabbits. 1148 5


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