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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Comparative and Clinical Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1490769

Innovative Surgical and Stress-Stimulated Rat Model of Ligamentum Flavum Hypertrophy

Provisionally accepted
Long Chen Long Chen 1Zhaoyuan Zhang Zhaoyuan Zhang 1*Niandong Li Niandong Li 1*Wanxia Zhang Wanxia Zhang 1*Zhouhang Zheng Zhouhang Zheng 1*Yu Zhang Yu Zhang 2*
  • 1 Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Guangdong Second Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background and purpose： Animal models of ligamentum flavum hypertrophy (LFH) are still in the exploratory stage. This study aimed to establish a reliable, efficient, and economical model of LFH in rats for the study of human ligamentum flavum (LF) pathological mechanisms, drug screening, development, improvement of surgical treatment, disease prevention, and other aspects.Methods and materials: Forty rats were divided into an experimental group and a sham group of 20 rats. The experimental group (n=20) was treated with an innovative operation combined with stress stimulation at the L5-L6 segments, the L5 and L6 spinous processes, transverse processes, and supraspinous ligaments were excised, along with removal of the paraspinal muscles at the L5-L6 level. One week after surgery, the rats were subjected to slow treadmill running daily.In the experimental group (n=20), the spinous process, transverse process, supraspinous ligament and paraspinous muscle of L5 and L6 were excised. And for a week after the surgery, the rats ran on a treadmill at a slow pace every day. While the sham group (n=20) was treated with sham operation only. Seven weeks later, MRI, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and western blot (WB) will be performed on the LF of the L5-6 segment in the two groups of rats.Results: MRI results showed that the LF in the experimental group was significantly thicker than that in the sham group. Masson staining results indicated that LF thickness, collagen fiber area, and collagen volume fraction (CVF) were significantly higher in the experimental group than in the sham group. IHC and WB showed that the expression of TGF-β1, COL1, and IL-1β in the LF of the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the LF of sham group.Through innovative surgical intervention combined with stress stimulation, a relatively reliable, efficient, and convenient rat LFH model was established.

    Keywords: hypertrophy of ligamentum flavum, rat model, western blot, MRI, mmunohistochemistry

    Received: 03 Sep 2024; Accepted: 24 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Zhang, Li, Zhang, Zheng and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Zhaoyuan Zhang, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Niandong Li, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Wanxia Zhang, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Zhouhang Zheng, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Yu Zhang, Guangdong Second Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510095, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.