Wenbin Hua, Yukun Zhang, Xinghuo Wu, Liang Kang, Ji Tu, Kangcheng Zhao, Shuai Li, Kun Wang, Yu Song, Rongjin Luo, Zengwu Shao, Shuhua Yang, Cao Yang
BACKGROUND: Low back pain is a common problem, mainly caused by intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). An important pathophysiological characteristic of IDD is the loss of homeostatic balance of the extracellular matrix metabolism. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is one of the inflammatory mediators stimulating the degradation of extracellular matrix in the nucleus pulposus (NP) and contributing to IDD pathogenesis. Icariin, which is isolated from Epimedium brevicornum, acts as an anti-inflammatory drug...
February 12, 2018: Current Pharmaceutical Design