It has been hypothesized that “chemical radiculitis” occurs on the root damage due to lumbar disc herniation. In this report, we studied inflammatory cytokines in the removed disc by staining with the “ABC-AP method”. We studied 5 cases whose discs were removed. We stained for Interleukin-1β(IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in both the prolapsed disc as well as the intervertebral disc.
We found that inflammatory cytokings stained in the granulation area and inflammatory cells were present around the prolapsed disc. We also found it in the chondrocytes of the intervertebral disc. In this experiment, we can conclude that inflammatory cytokines have a relationship with root inflammation and also with degeneration of the disc.
