Anti-inflammatory spinal patch could repair herniated discs

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, November 15 (Reporter Zhang Mengran) According to the latest issue of "Science Translational Medicine", researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States have developed a nanofiber repair patch that contains a tension-activated anti-inflammatory drug that can be used to repair damage to the annulus fibrosus (the tough ring around the soft center of the intervertebral disc).

In a goat model of disc injury, the patch helped prevent disc degeneration, which often occurs when injuries are not treated promptly. The new patch may help prevent recurrent and painful disc herniations, which can affect about 25% of patients who undergo microdiscectomy. Microdiscectomy surgically removes the herniated material to relieve pain, but it does not repair the damage to the disc. Without repair, the injury and accompanying inflammation can lead to further disc degeneration.

To address this problem, the team created a nanofiber tension-activated repair patch (TARP) embedded with anakinra, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved anti-inflammatory biologic drug that can be used to treat annulus fibrosus injuries.

TARP provides physical closure of the injury and integrates with the new collagen material at the site, while anakinra is released from the TARP in response to tension generated by normal motion of the spine.

The researchers found that in goats with acute cervical spine injuries, one month of TARP treatment prevented further damage that destabilized the intervertebral disc.