New genes responsible for sciatica discovered

Lumbar disc herniation is one of the most common structural changes in the lower back and the most common cause of sciatica – pain radiating from the lumbosacral spine and buttock, through the back of the thigh and lower leg to the foot. Radiating pain is caused by irritation of the nerve compressed by the herniated disc, and especially by inflammation of the nerve. Such hernias are quite common even in asymptomatic people, their incidence increases with age, and they only cause symptoms when they irritate a nerve.

Previous research has identified 23 regions of the genome associated with inherited risk factors for lumbar disc herniation. Now an international team led by scientists from the University of Oulu in Finland has used data obtained from the Finnish biobank FinnGen and the British and Estonian biobanks. Genetic and health data from 829,699 people were analyzed.

This led to the discovery of 41 new regions of the genome that influence disc structure and inflammatory factors, which may increase the risk of disc herniation. In addition, it was possible to identify new gene connections with the nervous system and nerve function, which may influence the sensation of pain or its duration.

The analysis published a few days ago in the journal “Nature Communications” also concerned patients with disc herniation who required surgical treatment. A total of five new genomic regions were discovered associated with more severe disc herniations that require surgery.

– This type of analysis was possible thanks to the very good and extensive Finnish health registries, which allow us to comprehensively study the mechanisms of the disease – emphasized Dr. Ville Salo from the University of Oulu, the lead analyst of the study.

As the authors emphasize, the study also provided a lot of new information that can be used in future research.

– We hope that our findings and data sets will be used to develop medical and preventive solutions in the future. This could, for example, open up the possibility of developing pain treatment methods for patients with disc herniation suffering from radiating pain, and thus improve their quality of life, said associate professor Juhani Määttä, who took part in the study.

'Such advances, in addition to individual benefits, would naturally also have broader societal impacts, such as reducing direct health care costs and indirect financial costs, such as loss of income,' said study leader Professor Johannes Kettunen.