BACKGROUND: Degrading enzymes play an important role in the process of disc degeneration. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between the expression of high temperature requirement serine protease A1 (HtrA1) in the nucleus pulposus and the T2 value of the nucleus pulposus region in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-six patients who had undergone surgical excision of the nucleus pulposus were examined by MRI before surgery. Pfirrmann grading of the target intervertebral disc was performed according to the sagittal T2-weighted imaging, and the T2 value of the target nucleus pulposus was measured according to the median sagittal T2 mapping. The correlation between the Pfirrmann grade and the T2 value was analyzed. The expression of HtrA1 in the nucleus pulposus was analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blot. The correlation between the expression of HtrA1 and the T2 value was analyzed.

RESULTS: The T2 value of the nucleus pulposus region was 33.11–167.91 ms, with an average of 86.64±38.73 ms. According to Spearman correlation analysis, there was a rank correlation between T2 value and Pfirrmann grade (P<0.0001), and the correlation coefficient (rs)=–0.93617. There was a linear correlation between the mRNA level of HtrA1 and T2 value in nucleus pulposus tissues (a=3.88, b=–0.019, F=112.63, P<0.0001), normalized regression coefficient=–0.88. There was a linear correlation between the expression level of HtrA1 protein and the T2 value in the nucleus pulposus tissues (a=3.30, b=–0.016, F=93.15, P<0.0001) and normalized regression coefficient=–0.86.

CONCLUSIONS: The expression of HtrA1 was strongly related to the T2 value, suggesting that HtrA1 plays an important role in the pathological process of intervertebral disc degeneration.

Keywords: intervertebral disc degeneration, Low Back Pain, Magnetic Resonance Imaging