ABSTRACT
Low back pain is an important cause of disability worldwide. It has a high incidence rate and brings a huge burden to families and society. Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is one of the leading factors causing low back pain and the pathological basis of degenerative disc diseases, such as intervertebral disc herniation and spinal stenosis. However, the etiology of IDD is complex, and the risk factors and specific mechanisms behind remain unclear. Some controversial views have also been observed. Surgery is often considered for patients with severe intervertebral disc diseases, but there is no effective treatment for IDD at the early and middle stages. It will be of great significance to in-depth explore the molecular biological mechanisms and related risk factors, which can bring benefits to the prevention, accurate diagnosis, early treatment, and rehabilitation of degenerative disc diseases. Refer to the literatures published in the past ten years, this paper describes the latest research progress on risk factors related to IDD in terms of aging, genetics, mechanical loading, low-grade infection, biological rhythms, smoking, metabolic disease, estrogen, and nutrition. The results show that IDD is affected by multiple risk factors. These factors can interact with each other, and lead to death, phenotypic transformation, and metabolic disorder of disc cells, leading to a reduction of extracellular matrix and an unbalanced microenvironment and eventually loss of structural integrity of intervertebral disc tissue and IDD. A good body clock, a controlled weight, an appropriate blood glucose level, adequate nutrition, no smoking, a good hormone level, moderate exercise, avoiding injury, and strict aseptic techniques in the clinic will bring benefits to the progress of IDD.