Fig. 5
The histopathologic results after 4 weeks of puncture modeling. (A, B) both groups of rats showed signs of degeneration in the intervertebral discs, such as: collapse of the intervertebral space, disordered arrangement of the annulus fibrosus structure, unclear boundary between the nucleus pulposus and the annulus fibrosus, significant reduction or even disappearance of the nucleus pulposus, fewer nucleus pulposus cells with clustered aggregation, and a marked decrease in extracellular matrix content. Scale bar = 100 μM and 200 μM. (C, D) The cartilage endplate thickness in the LP group was significantly thinner than that in the CP group. Scale bar = 100 μM. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 5). **P < 0.01. (E) No significant difference was found in the histological scores between the LP and CP group. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 5).
