Figure 1:

Vertebral capillaries penetrate the bony endplate and terminate at the cartilage endplate, which forms a continuous interface superior and inferior to the intervertebral disc that separates the vertebra from the inner annulus fibrosus and gelatinous nucleus pulposus. Once nutrients reach the cartilage, small solutes such as glucose and oxygen diffuse in through the cartilage matrix along a steep concentration gradient, while metabolic waste produced by the disc cells, such as lactate, diffuses out (inset).