Abstract
The intervertebral disc is a cartilaginous structure that resembles articular cartilage in its biochemistry and cell biology, but morphologically it is clearly different (Roberts 2002; Urban and Roberts 2003). The disc shows degenerative and ageing changes earlier than any other connective tissue in the human body (Urban and Roberts 2003). The maintenance of the ECM in the NP of the adult human disc is dependent on the functional integrity of the cartilage end plate cells (Pritzker 1977). Cartilage end plate senescence is followed by compensatory cartilaginous metaplasia of annulus fibrosus cells. It has been proposed that intervertebral disc narrowing and collapse are related to metabolic failure of matrix production by end plate and annulus fibrosus cells (Pritzker 1977). © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.