Evidence update-association between CILP and degeneration of the intervertebral disc: a meta-analysis.

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is an underlying pathological process which leads to lower back pain (1). Whilst initial weakening of IVDs may be asymptomatic, subsequent disc herniation can cause spinal stenosis and segmental instability (2). Conservative or surgical management can alleviate clinical symptoms, but may be unable to prevent continued degeneration. As degenerative disc disease has been shown to be heritable, studies have analysed associations between IVD degeneration and genetic changes (3-5). Recently, a singlenucleotide polymorphism of the cartilage intermediate layer protein (CILP) gene was identified as a possible etiological factor in IVD degeneration (5). However, there has since been conflicting evidence as to the role of CILP gene polymorphism rs2073711 in susceptibility to IVD degeneration (3,5,6). Here we summarise the main study from Wang and colleagues.