The Ultrastructure of the Extracellular Matrix in Chemonucleolysis.

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We investgated the changes of proteoglycan (PG) structure in chemonucleolysis using an electron microscope. Dehydration was used before embedding N-N-dimethylformamide (DMF) but not ethanol. Two Kinds of filaments were identified in the extracellular matrix of a normal rabbit's intervertebral disc except for collagen fibers. The small filaments had disappeared in the nucleus pulposus three hours after injecting chymopapain. The large filaments had disappeared and the small ones changed in the nucleus pulposus three hours after injecting hyaluronidase. As chymopapain is a cysteine protease, it affects the protein component of PG. Hyaluronidase affects a hyaluronic acid and glycosaminoglycans of the PG monomer. We assumed that the small filament is a PG monomer and the large one is a hyaluronic acid. Chymopapain digests proteins of the PG monomer, so the PG looses water and its network of collagen fibers.
西日本整形・災害外科学会の論文