Can E-selectin be a reliable marker of inflammation in lumbar disc disease?

The cause of sciatica and low back pain associating with lumbar disc herniation has not been clearly identified until now. Inflammation has been shown to occur via immunohistochemical and biochemical methods in herniated disc tissues. The important prognostic role of E-selectin has recently been substantiated by other studies in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). The important role of adhesion molecules in the initiation and progression of the inflammatory response is well known for infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders. In our study, we aimed to show the role of E-selectin as an inflammatory marker and the correlation of inflammation with straight-leg raise (SLR) test findings and subtype of disc herniation. We found that the cases with positive SLR test had higher rates of immunostaining with E-selectin. This led us to think that E-selectin might play an important role in the activity status of the disease, meaning patients with more limited movement capacity might benefit from E-selectin antagonist therapy. Among the many studies performed to identify the relationship between the inflammation markers and activity of lumbar disc herniation, this is the first investigation held with E-selectin.