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Article
Characteristics of sensory DRG neurons innervating the lumbar facet joints in rats
The rat L5/6 facet joint, from which low-back pain can originate, is multisegmentally innervated from the L1 to L5 dorsal root ganglions (DRGs). Sensory fibers from the L1 and L2 DRGs are reported to non-segme...
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Article
Up-regulation of TNFα in DRG satellite cells following lumbar facet joint injury in rats
The rat L5/6 facet joint, from which low back pain can originate, is multisegmentally innervated from the L1 to L5 dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Sensory fibers from the L1 and L2 DRG are reported to non-segmental...
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Article
Up-regulation of p55 TNF alpha-receptor in dorsal root ganglia neurons following lumbar facet joint injury in rats
The rat L5/6 facet joint is multisegmentally innervated from the L1 to L6 dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a known mediator of inflammation. It has been reported that satellite cells a...
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Article
Evaluation of low back pain using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire for lumbar spinal disease in a multicenter study: differences in scores based on age, sex, and type of disease
The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) has investigated the JOA Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ) to evaluate several aspects of low back pain in patients. The score includes five categories (25...
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Article
Effect of applying p75NTR saporin to a punctured intervertebral disc on calcitonin gene-related peptide expression in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons
Recent studies have revealed that the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor, p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR), is important in inflammatory pain. Moreover, p75NTR immunoreactive sensory nerve and dorsal ...
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Article
Primary sensory neurons with dichotomizing axons projecting to the facet joint and the low back muscle in rats
Clinically, the origin of low back pain is unknown. The pain may originate from the lumbar muscles directly, or it may be referred pain from the spine. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons with dichotomizing axo...
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Article
Rotational hypermobility of disc wedging using kinematic CT: preliminary study to investigate the instability of discs in degenerated scoliosis in the lumbar spine
The number of patients showing lumbar degenerative scoliosis, including disc wedging, has increased, and examination of the mechanism of spinal nerve compression due to lateral and rotational mobility of the l...
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Article
Existence of pyogenic spondylitis in Modic type 1 change without other signs of infection: 2-year follow-up
The relationship of Modic change to pain and inflammation remains to be unclear. Recently, some authors have reported that Modic type 1 signals are closely related to infection. However, if the patients do not...
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Article
Evaluation of behavior and neuropeptide markers of pain in a simple, sciatic nerve-pinch pain model in rats
Pathomechanisms of injured-nerve pain have not been fully elucidated. Radicular pain and chronic constriction injury models have been established; however, producing these models is complicated. A sciatic nerv...
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Article
Clinical applications of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar foraminal nerve root entrapment
Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can provide valuable structural information about tissues that may be useful for clinical applications in evaluating lumbar foraminal nerve root entrapment. Our purpose was to ...
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Article
Effectiveness of L2 spinal nerve infiltration for selective discogenic low back pain patients
It has been reported that rat L5/6 lumbar discs are innervated mainly by L2 dorsal root ganglion neurons. We previously reported that L2 spinal nerve infiltration was effective for discogenic low back pain (DL...
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Article
Single-level instrumented posterolateral fusion of the lumbar spine with a local bone graft versus an iliac crest bone graft: a prospective, randomized study with a 2-year follow-up
The iliac crest bone grafting (ICBG) technique for lumbar posterolateral fusion surgery is widely used; however, donor site problems such as pain and sensory disturbance have been reported. Local bone is avail...
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Article
Proinflammatory cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with lumbar radiculopathy
In pathologic radicular pain of lumbar spinal stenosis, cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins (ILs) play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of nerve degeneration and pain. We i...
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Article
Open AccessPain-related sensory innervation in monoiodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis in rat knees that gradually develops neuronal injury in addition to inflammatory pain
The exact mechanism of knee osteoarthritis (OA)-associated pain is unclear, whereas mixed evidence of inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain has been noted. We aimed to investigate pain-related sensory innerva...
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Article
Open AccessAssociations between proinflammatory cytokines in the synovial fluid and radiographic grading and pain-related scores in 47 consecutive patients with osteoarthritis of the knee
One of the sources of knee pain in osteoarthritis (OA) is believed to be related to local chronic inflammation of the knee joints, which involves the production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis...
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Article
Single-level instrumented posterolateral fusion versus non-instrumented anterior interbody fusion for lumbar spondylolisthesis: a prospective study with a 2-year follow-up
Surgery for lumbar spondylolisthesis is widely performed. However, there have been no reports comparing posterolateral and anterior interbody fusion prospectively. We compared instrumented posterolateral fusio...
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Article
Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of symptomatic nerve root of patients with lumbar disk herniation
Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can provide valuable structural information that may be useful for evaluating pathological changes of the lumbar nerve root. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) neurogra...
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Article
Percutaneously absorbed NSAIDs attenuate local production of proinflammatory cytokines and suppress the expression of c-Fos in the spinal cord of a rodent model of knee osteoarthritis
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are commonly used in clinical situations to reduce inflammation and pain. Percutaneous administration is one of the routes mainly used in Japan to deal with the pa...
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Article
Efficacy of epidural administration of anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody onto spinal nerve for treatment of sciatica
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is thought to play a crucial role in the radicular pain caused by lumbar spinal stenosis. However, efficacy of inhibition of IL-6 for sciatica in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis has n...
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Article
L5 spinal nerve injury caused by misplacement of outwardly-inserted S1 pedicle screws
To evaluate L5 nerve root injuries caused by outwardly misplaced S1 pedicle screws.
