Abstract: Objective: To investigate the expression and function of bFGF and TNF-α in the ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament(OPLL) of the cervical spine. Methods: Thirty specimens and 40 normal controls were used in this study. The immunohistochemical method (SABC) was applied to determine the expression levels of bFGF and TNF-α. SPSS(version 10.0) software was used to analyze the data. Results: Ten specimens of normal posterior longitudinal ligaments were positive for bFGF (25%) and twenty-four specimens with COPLL were positive for bFGF (80%). Thirty-two specimens of normal posterior longitudinal ligaments were positive for TNF-α(80%) and ten specimens with COPLL were positive for TNF-α (33.3%). There was a significant difference (P＜0.05). Conclusions: The expression of bFGF in patients with COPLL is higher than that in normal posterior longitudinal ligaments(P＜0.05). High expression of bFGF and low expression of TNF-α play an important role in the pathogenesis of COPLL.

Key words: Longitudinal ligaments, Fibroblast growth factor 2, Tumor necrosis factor