Pro-inflammatory, Pleiotropic, and Anti-inflammatory TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 in Experimental Porcine Intervertebral Disk Degeneration

The aim of this study was to check the balance between tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in well-developed end-stage disk disease in the disk itself as well as in paradiskal spine. In 6 domestic pigs the cranial bony end plate of the L4 vertebra was perforated to the nucleus pulposus. At 3 months the degenerated experimental and contiguous control disks, together with the adjoining bony and cartilaginous vertebral end plates, bone marrow, and spinal ligaments, were excised and used for immunohistochemical analysis. In general, there were more TNF-α and in particular IL-10 positive cells in the degenerated disks than in the control disks, where…