The Assessment of the Essential Trace Elements Concentration by the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis in Patients with Degenerative Lumbar Disc Disease
Author(s): Sanjar Kochkartaev, Shatursunov Shahaydar, Abdusattarov Khurshid, Elena Danilova, Natalija Osinskaya
Objective: To evaluate the concentration of essential trace elements in herniated lumbar intervertebral disc in relationship with age of patients and stages of lumbar degenerative disc disease.
Material and methods: Prospective observational study. The specimens of the lumbar disc herniations were obtained from patients who underwent conventional transforaminal endoscopic discectomy. The instrumental neutron activation analysis was applied to determine the concentration of microelements in alumbar disc herniations. Statistical analyses performed by descriptive statistics and Student's t-tests. The level of significance was set to p < 0.05.
Results: A total of 44 patients who underwent transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy , of these 16 (38.09%) patients had lumbar disc herniation at the level of L3-L4, whereas 28 (62.01%) patinets had lumbar disc herniation at the level of L4-L5. The instrumental neutron activation analysis was demonstrated that the mean concentrations of essential trace elements such as Au, Br, Cr, Hg, Hf, Ni, Sc, Fe, and Co were declined by aging and progression the degenerative-destructive process, at the same time the content of other trace elements such as K, Se, Zn, Mn, Zn, Cl and Ca were increased, while the concentrations of Ag and La were relatively constant (all p values<.001).
Conclusion: This study revealed that the significant differences in the trace element concentrations in lumbar herniated discs between different age groups of patients, as well as the different stages of lumbar degenerative disc disease.