Fig. 8

Representative histology of rabbit intervertebral discs 4 weeks post-injection of contrast agent (CA) (A, F, K) and/or monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) (B–D, G–I, L–M) stained with Safranin-O. L2–L3 discs (B, C, D) were injected with 0.01 mg of MIA, L3–L4 discs (C, H, M) were injected with 0.1 mg of MIA and L4–L5 discs (D–N) were injected with 1.0 mg of MIA. L5–L6 discs (E, J, O) were used for non-injection (NI) controls. F–J are high-magnification images of the nucleus pulposus (NP) indicated by a square. K–O are high-magnification images of the posterior annulus fibrosus (AF). Scale bars: 1 mm (A–E), 5 μm (F–J), 200 μm (K–O)