Table 3.

Changes of biochemistries for the intervertebral discs

		PO	4 W	8 W	12 W
Uronic acid content	NP	1.59 ± 0.12	1.49 ± 0.13**	1.17 ± 0.14*,**,***	0.94 ± 0.11*,***
(μg/mg dry weight)	AF	0.52 ± 0.06	0.48 ± 0.04**	0.41 ± 0.07*,**,***	0.34 ± 0.03*,***
	CEPZ	0.72 ± 0.08	0.69 ± 0.05**	0.62 ± 0.06*,**,***	0.56 ± 0.07*,***
Hydroxyproline	NP	0.41 ± 0.06	0.47 ± 0.05*,**	0.51 ± 0.05*,**,***	0.57 ± 0.03*,***
(μg/mg dry weight)	AF	0.80 ± 0.08	0.89 ± 0.08*,**	0.97 ± 0.09*,**,***	1.05 ± 0.94*,***
	CEPZ	0.55 ± 0.08	0.51 ± 0.06**	0.45 ± 0.05*,**	0.40 ± 0.05*
Water content	NP	82.62 ± 4.70	80.83 ± 3.11**	76.04 ± 3.85*,**,***	71.43 ± 2.98*,***
(%)	AF	75.46 ± 4.07	72.95 ± 3.96**	67.17 ± 4.56*,**,***	62.29 ± 3.24*,***
	CEPZ	79.75 ± 4.23	78.48 ± 3.18**	73.72 ± 3.72*,**,***	69.07 ± 3.59*,***

^*P < 0.05, compared to PO (pre-operation), of AF (annulus fibrous), NP (nucleus pulposus), and CEPZ (cartilage endplate zone) in uronic acid, hydroxyproline and water content, separately; ^**P < 0.05, compared to 12 W, of AF, NP, and CEPZ in uronic acid, hydroxyproline and water content, separately; ^***P < 0.05, compared to 4 W, of AF, NP, and CEPZ in uronic acid, hydroxyproline and water content, separately. The units for the NP, AF, and CEPZ results are μg of epitope/mg of uronic acid or μg of epitope/mg of hydroxyproline, as appropriate for proteoglycans (PG) and the collagen contents