Association between the number of chondrocytes of lumbar intervertebral discs and age, abdominal aorta atherosclerosis and lumbar artery arteriosclerosis , a descriptive cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: The effect of age, atherosclerotic changes of abdominal aorta and arteriosclerotic changes of lumbar arteries on number of chondrocytes of lumbar intervertebral discs has not been studied. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional post mortem study was carried out in Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka to determine the association between the mean number of chondrocytes in the fifth lumbar intervertebral disc and age, the level of atherosclerotic changes of the lumbar abdominal aorta and arteriosclerotic changes of right and left, fourth lumbar arteries. The presence or absence of atherosclerotic plaques in the abdominal aorta lumbar region was studied. To assess arteriosclerotic changes, the Intima Media thickness (IMT) and the total thickness (TT) of lumbar arteries were measured and the ratio IMT/TT was calculated. Bivariant analysis and a multi variant analysis were done. Results: There were 51 samples in total. Their ages ranged from 18 to 96 years. The mean age (SD) was 43 (± 17.1) years. The samples were obtained from 38 males and 13 females. There was no significant association between atherosclerotic changes of abdominal aorta and arteriosclerotic changes of lumbar arteries and the mean number of chondrocytes. Conclusion: Only the age had a significant negative association with the mean number of chondrocytes of the intervertebral disc