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Characterization of microenvironmental changes in the intervertebral discs of patients with chronic low back pain using multiparametric MRI contrasts extracted from Z-spectrum

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Abstract

Purpose

Z-spectral MRI data were analyzed to produce multiparametric metabolic and microenvironmental contrasts for identifying intervertebral discs with/without pain symptom and sore pain.

Methods

Z-spectra data were collected from the lumbar discs of 26 patients with non-specific chronic low bck pain (CLBP) and 21 asymptomatic controls (AC) with a chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST). Data were fitted to quantify the CEST effects from glycosaminoglycan, amide proton transfer (APT), nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE), semi-solid magnetization transfer contrast effects, and the direct saturation of water. Multiparametric maps were computed from the fitted peak amplitudes, and the average values were calculated from all five lumber discs. Those parameters were compared between the CLBP and AC groups and between the subgroups with and without (Nsore) sore pain.

Results

The discs in symptomatic patients have lower water content, collagen-bound water and collagen than the discs in AC (P < 0.05). Additionally, Z-sepctral MRI indicated that the discs in the sore subgroup had less water, collagen-bound water and collagen, and likely lower pH compared to the Nsore subgroup (P < 0.05). Lower pH as measured with reduced APT and NOE effects may be an important pathological factor causing sore pain of the back.

Conclusion

Z-spectral MRI with its multiparametric metabolic and microenvironmental contrasts has been demonstrated to identify discs with and without pain symptom or sore pain, providing more important information of CLBP.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Huiyong Liu and Jing Li from Tongji Hospital for their supports and valuable discussions.

Funding

This study is supported by NIH Grant R21EB023516 (Cai), R21AG053876 (Tai), R01AG061114 (Tai), and Radiology department start-up funds at University of Illinois at Chicago. The study is supported by Youth Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China 82001782 (Li).

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Author notes

  1. Li Li and Zhiguo Zhou have contributed equally for this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiological Department, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, HUST, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Li Li, Jicheng Fang & WenZhen Zhu

  2. Department of Orthopedics, Wuhan Children’s Hospital (Wuhan Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital), Tongji Medical College, HUST, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Zhiguo Zhou

  3. Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, HUST, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Xiong

  4. Departments of Radiology, Department of Bioengineering, and the Center for MR Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Li Li, Alessandro Scotti, Mehran Shaghaghi & Kejia Cai

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  1. Li Li
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Correspondence to WenZhen Zhu.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional (Ethics Committee of Tongji Hospital, TJ-IRB20160923) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Li, L., Zhou, Z., Xiong, W. et al. Characterization of microenvironmental changes in the intervertebral discs of patients with chronic low back pain using multiparametric MRI contrasts extracted from Z-spectrum. Eur Spine J 30, 1063–1071 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-021-06733-3

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