Experimental Study On Intraperitoneal Injection Of Hydrogen-rich Saline For Treating Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration In Rabbits

Objective: Molecular hydrogen has been reported to exhibit anti-oxidative stress,anti-apoptotic,anti-immunity,and anti-inflammatory effects.Our research armed to investigate the effects of Hydrogen-rich saline for lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration in rabbits by intraperitioneal injection.Methods:A total of thirty-six New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups : normal control group,model control group and model experimental group with 12 rabbits in each group.Rabbits in three groups all were revealed lumbar discs from the right posterior lateral muscle gap by surgery way.Anything else was not done in normal control group,and a rabbit model of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration induced by puncture and aspiration was established in model control group and model experimental group.Rabbits in model experimental group were intraperitoneally injected with 8 mL/ ?Hydrogen-rich saline,once every 3 days.Equivalent saline was injected in rabbits of model control group in the same way,while no treatment was done on normal control group.The treatment lasted for 8 weeks.Not only the evaluation of X-ray and histopathology were taken at the 4th and 8th week respectivelyafter treatment,but also using ELISA method investigate the content of tumor necrosis factor(TNF-?),interleukin-1(IL-1)and matrix metalloproteinases-3(MMP-3)in intervertebral disc tissue.Results: Significant improvement in imaging and histopathology were found in the model experimental group after no matter 4 or 8 weeks Hydrogen-rich saline treatment,at the same time,the content of TNF-?,IL-1 and MMP-3 in intervertebral disc tissue were significantly lower than the model control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.001),but still higher than the normal control group(P<0.001),and the content of inflammatory mediators over time had obvious difference statistically in three groups(P<0.001).Conclusions: The intraperitoneal injection of hydrogen-rich saline in the treatment of lumbar disc degeneration in rabbits had a certain positive role.