Longitudinal Comparison of Enzyme- and Laser-Treated Intervertebral Disc by MRI, X-Ray, and Histological Analyses Reveals Discrepancies in the Progression of Disc Degeneration: A Rabbit Study

Figure 4

Histological analysis of rabbit intervertebral discs (IVDs) by Alcian blue/PAS staining (BA-PAS). IVDs of 1-year-old rabbits were treated according to either the enzyme technique (enzyme) or the laser procedure (laser) as described in Materials and Methods. IVDs were processed for histological analysis at days 0 (untreated IVD from two rabbits as internal control) and 7 and 90 days after treatment as described in Materials and Methods. Representative Alcian blue/PAS staining is shown at days 0, 7, and 90. For clarity reasons and regarding similarities in follow-up, only the control at day 0 is illustrated. Bar: 5 mm for macroscopic section image and 500 μm for magnification image.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)