Effect of Static Load on the Nucleus Pulposus of Rabbit Intervertebral Disc Motion Segment in an Organ Culture

Figure 3

Collagen type II IHC staining of the NP at each time point (original magnification, 400). (a) Fresh tissue; (b, c, d) collagen type II staining of tissues under static load at days 3, 7, and 14, respectively. The samples under static load showed a significant enhancement in IHC intensity for the initial 3 days (b, arrowheads); however, the staining was obviously reduced after 3 days; by 2 weeks (d), the staining was significantly decreased (arrow) and significantly different from the controls. IHC: immunohistochemistry; NP: nucleus pulposus.

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