The role of hyaluronic acid in intervertebral disc regeneration
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Author(s)
Kazezian, Zepur
Joyce, Kieran
Pandit, Abhay
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a leading cause of low back pain worldwide, incurring a significant burden on the healthcare system and society. IVD degeneration is characterized by an abnormal cell-mediated response leading to the stimulation of different catabolic biomarkers and activation of signalling pathways. In the last few decades, hyaluronic acid (HA), which has been broadly used in tissue-engineering, has popularised due to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and extracellular matrix enhancing properties. Hence, there is expressed interest in treating the IVD using different HA compositions. An ideal HA-based biomaterial needs to be compatible and supportive of the disc microenvironment in general and inhibit inflammation and downstream cascades leading to the innervation, vascularisation and pain sensation in particular. High molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMW HA) and HA-based biomaterials used as therapeutic delivery platforms have been trialled in preclinical models and clinical trials. In this paper, we reviewed a series of studies focused on assessing the effect of different compositions of HA as a therapeutic, targeting IVD degeneration. Overall, tremendous advances have been made towards an optimal form of a HA biomaterial to target specific biomarkers associated with IVD degeneration, but further optimization is necessary to address regeneration.
Date Issued
2020-09-09
Date Acceptance
2020-09-07
Citation
Applied Sciences, 2020, 10 (18)
ISSN
2076-3417
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
Applied Sciences
Volume
10
Issue
18
Copyright Statement
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Sponsor
Hardiman Scholarship
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
6257
Date Publish Online
2020-09-09
