Fig. 7.

The GPQ hydrogel effectively reduced LBP caused by IVDD. (A) Schematic illustration showing the entire processes of this animal experiments. (B) Representative T2-weighted MRI sagittal images of lumbar vertebrae in the Sham, GPQ, and PBS groups at 8 weeks. (C–E) Results of PATs, Von Frey test, and Hargreaves test in the sham, GPQ, and PBS groups from 0 to 8 weeks (Sham group: n = 5, GPQ and PBS group: n = 6). (F) Representative fluorescence images of NGF immunostaining (red) at IVD (scale bar = 500 μm above; scale bar = 50 μm below). (G) Quantification of NGF⁺ cells in the sham, GPQ and PBS groups (n = 5 per group). Data represent mean ± SD; statistical significance was analyzed by one-way ANOVA; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001; (C) compared with PBS group.