Progress in Regulating Inflammatory Biomaterials for Intervertebral Disc Regeneration

Overview

Journal Bioact Mater

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2024 Jan 1

PMID 38162512

Authors

Honglin Xiang

Weikang Zhao

Ke Jiang

Jiangtao He

Lu Chen

Wenguo Cui

Yuling Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is rising worldwide and leading to significant health issues and financial strain for patients. Traditional treatments for IVDD can alleviate pain but do not reverse disease progression, and surgical removal of the damaged disc may be required for advanced disease. The inflammatory microenvironment is a key driver in the development of disc degeneration. Suitable anti-inflammatory substances are critical for controlling inflammation in IVDD. Several treatment options, including glucocorticoids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and biotherapy, are being studied for their potential to reduce inflammation. However, anti-inflammatories often have a short half-life when applied directly and are quickly excreted, thus limiting their therapeutic effects. Biomaterial-based platforms are being explored as anti-inflammation therapeutic strategies for IVDD treatment. This review introduces the pathophysiology of IVDD and discusses anti-inflammatory therapeutics and the components of these unique biomaterial platforms as comprehensive treatment systems. We discuss the strengths, shortcomings, and development prospects for various biomaterials platforms used to modulate the inflammatory microenvironment, thus providing guidance for future breakthroughs in IVDD treatment.

Citing Articles

Mapping the Knowledge Landscape of and Emerging Future Trends in Stem Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature From 1998 to 2024.

Meng Z, He D, Wang H, Ma L, Guan L, Ai Y J Multidiscip Healthc. 2025; 18:1281-1295.

PMID: 40060991 PMC: 11890084. DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S508807.

Pioneering pain management with botulinum toxin type A: From anti-inflammation to regenerative therapies.

Rahmatipour H, Shabestari S, Benisi S, Samadikhah H Heliyon. 2025; 11(4):e42350.

PMID: 40028584 PMC: 11870196. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42350.

Humanin reduces nucleus pulposus cells ferroptosis to alleviate intervertebral disc degeneration: An in vitro and in vivo study.

Zhu D, Wang Z, Li Y, Chen S, Kang X J Orthop Translat. 2025; 50:274-294.

PMID: 39902261 PMC: 11788685. DOI: 10.1016/j.jot.2024.12.002.

GATA6 Facilitates Progression of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration by Regulating Ferroptosis via Targeting TLR2/AKR1C3.

Wang X, Wang B, Shi J, Chen Z, Wu Y, Liu J Int J Biol Sci. 2025; 21(3):1174-1186.

PMID: 39897029 PMC: 11781159. DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.102776.

Innovating intervertebral disc degeneration therapy: Harnessing the power of extracellular vesicles.

Chen S, Dou Y, Zhang Y, Sun X, Liu X, Yang Q J Orthop Translat. 2025; 50:44-55.

PMID: 39868351 PMC: 11761297. DOI: 10.1016/j.jot.2024.09.014.

References

Du Y, Li J, Tang X, Liu Y, Bian G, Shi J . The Thermosensitive Injectable Celecoxib-Loaded Chitosan Hydrogel for Repairing Postoperative Intervertebral Disc Defect. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022; 10:876157. PMC: 9274121. DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.876157. View

Patgiri A, Skinner O, Miyazaki Y, Schleifer G, Marutani E, Shah H . An engineered enzyme that targets circulating lactate to alleviate intracellular NADH:NAD imbalance. Nat Biotechnol. 2020; 38(3):309-313. PMC: 7135927. DOI: 10.1038/s41587-019-0377-7. View

Siddiqui N, Asawa S, Birru B, Baadhe R, Rao S . PCL-Based Composite Scaffold Matrices for Tissue Engineering Applications. Mol Biotechnol. 2018; 60(7):506-532. DOI: 10.1007/s12033-018-0084-5. View

Han F, Tu Z, Zhu Z, Liu D, Meng Q, Yu Q . Targeting Endogenous Reactive Oxygen Species Removal and Regulating Regenerative Microenvironment at Annulus Fibrosus Defects Promote Tissue Repair. ACS Nano. 2023; 17(8):7645-7661. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c00093. View

Sadeghi A, Nokhasteh S, Molavi A, Khorsand-Ghayeni M, Naderi-Meshkin H, Mahdizadeh A . Surface modification of electrospun PLGA scaffold with collagen for bioengineered skin substitutes. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2016; 66:130-137. DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2016.04.073. View

Hotamisligil G . Inflammation and metabolic disorders. Nature. 2006; 444(7121):860-7. DOI: 10.1038/nature05485. View

Martin J, Milby A, Chiaro J, Kim D, Hebela N, Smith L . Translation of an engineered nanofibrous disc-like angle-ply structure for intervertebral disc replacement in a small animal model. Acta Biomater. 2014; 10(6):2473-81. PMC: 4412172. DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2014.02.024. View

Yamanouchi D, Wu J, Lazar A, Kent K, Chu C, Liu B . Biodegradable arginine-based poly(ester-amide)s as non-viral gene delivery reagents. Biomaterials. 2008; 29(22):3269-77. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2008.04.026. View

Mitchell M, Billingsley M, Haley R, Wechsler M, Peppas N, Langer R . Engineering precision nanoparticles for drug delivery. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020; 20(2):101-124. PMC: 7717100. DOI: 10.1038/s41573-020-0090-8. View

10.

Bian Q, Jain A, Xu X, Kebaish K, Crane J, Zhang Z . Excessive Activation of TGFβ by Spinal Instability Causes Vertebral Endplate Sclerosis. Sci Rep. 2016; 6:27093. PMC: 4891769. DOI: 10.1038/srep27093. View

11.

Xia C, Zeng Z, Fang B, Tao M, Gu C, Zheng L . Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes ameliorate intervertebral disc degeneration via anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Free Radic Biol Med. 2019; 143:1-15. DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.07.026. View

12.

Wu H, Zhang M, Li W, Zhu S, Zhang D . Stachydrine attenuates IL-1β-induced inflammatory response in osteoarthritis chondrocytes through the NF-κB signaling pathway. Chem Biol Interact. 2020; 326:109136. DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2020.109136. View

13.

Hermann W, Lambova S, Muller-Ladner U . Current Treatment Options for Osteoarthritis. Curr Rheumatol Rev. 2017; 14(2):108-116. DOI: 10.2174/1573397113666170829155149. View

14.

Adams M, Roughley P . What is intervertebral disc degeneration, and what causes it?. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2006; 31(18):2151-61. DOI: 10.1097/01.brs.0000231761.73859.2c. View

15.

Tsaryk R, Gloria A, Russo T, Anspach L, De Santis R, Ghanaati S . Collagen-low molecular weight hyaluronic acid semi-interpenetrating network loaded with gelatin microspheres for cell and growth factor delivery for nucleus pulposus regeneration. Acta Biomater. 2015; 20:10-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2015.03.041. View

16.

de Oliveira T, Mukherji D, Kremer K, Netz P . Effects of stereochemistry and copolymerization on the LCST of PNIPAm. J Chem Phys. 2017; 146(3):034904. DOI: 10.1063/1.4974165. View

17.

Schleimer R . An overview of glucocorticoid anti-inflammatory actions. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1993; 45 Suppl 1:S3-7; discussion S43-4. DOI: 10.1007/BF01844196. View

18.

Cosamalon-Gan I, Cosamalon-Gan T, Mattos-Piaggio G, Villar-Suarez V, Garcia-Cosamalon J, Vega-Alvarez J . Inflammation in the intervertebral disc herniation. Neurocirugia (Astur : Engl Ed). 2020; 32(1):21-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.neucir.2020.01.001. View

19.

Zhou L, Zhang L, Li P, Maitz M, Wang K, Shang T . Adhesive and Self-Healing Polyurethanes with Tunable Multifunctionality. Research (Wash D C). 2022; 2022:9795682. PMC: 9639449. DOI: 10.34133/2022/9795682. View

20.

Almarza A, Athanasiou K . Design characteristics for the tissue engineering of cartilaginous tissues. Ann Biomed Eng. 2004; 32(1):2-17. DOI: 10.1023/b:abme.0000007786.37957.65. View