Clinical Implication of Prostaglandin E2 Content in Lumbar Disc Disease

Abstract

Objective: A prospective biochemical assay of prostaglandin E2 content in symptomatic lumbar disc materials was done in order to clarify the pathogenesis of lumbar radiculopathy. Patients and Methods: Forty-eight disc specimens were purified by a standard solid-phase extraction procedure and analyzed by an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay for prostaglandin E2. Clinical and anatomic correlations were evaluated with analysis of variance and t-test. Results: Acute herniated lumbar disc diseases tended to be associated with a higher prostaglandin E2 content than degenerative lumbar disc disease. Sequestered discs tended to be associated with a higher prostaglandin E2 content than extruded discs, which also showed higher prostaglandin E2 content than protruded ones. A sciatica and positive straight leg raising test appeared to be associated with a higher prostaglandin E2 content than a negative test. Conclusion: This result suggests that the level of prostaglandin E2 would be correlated with clinical symptom and sign in the inflammatory process of lumbar disc herniation.