Free calcium induces degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc through the calcium sensing receptor
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Introduction: Degenerative disc disease (DDD) is a common cause of lower back pain. Calcification of the intervertebral disc (IVD) has been correlated with DDD. The role of IVD calcification in the development DDD is unknown. We noticed an increase in ionic calcium content and expression of the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) in the degenerate discs, however, its role in DDD remains unclear. Material and Methods: IVD Cells: Bovine and human NP and AF cells were incubated in culture media supplemented with various concentrations of calcium, and a CaSR agonist IVD Cultures: IVDs from bovine tails were isolated and the vertebral bone was removed. IVDs were cultured for 6 weeks in culture medium supplemented with calcium (1.0, 2.5, or 5.0 mM), or a CaSR agonist. Western blotting was performed on extracts to assess for aggrecan and Col II. Results: The expression of aggrecan and Col II decreased dose-dependently in both NP and AF cells, as well as in the organ culture model following supplementation with calcium or the CaSR agonist. Conclusion: Our results suggest that changes in the local concentrations of calcium are not benign, and that activation of the CaSR may be a contributing factor in IVD degeneration.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".