Hsu HT, Yue CT, Teng MS, et al. - Through a study that involved 89 individuals who underwent cervical discectomy for disc herniation, 93 who underwent lumbar discectomy, and 90 control individuals, researchers, to examine the impact of MMP-1 in intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, ascertained the strength of various predictors, including age, sex, MRI, Modic changes (MCs), BMI, leptin, and MMP-1. Significantly greater BMI was observed in individuals with cervical or lumbar discectomy vs controls. Significantly more men vs women were included in the lumbar individuals when compared with the cervical patients and the control individuals. In individuals with cervical or lumbar discectomy, plasma leptin and leptin IHC score associated significantly with BMI following adjustment for age and sex. Age, sex, MRI scale, MCs scale, and leptin/MMP-1 plasma concentration were not positively related to histological degeneration score (HDS). HDS was significantly correlated with BMI, leptin IHC score, and MMP-1 IHC score. Following a stepwise-multiple linear regression analysis to assess the strength of the relationships between HDS and different factors, only the MMP-1 IHC score exhibited an independent correlation with HDS in individuals with degeneration of the cervical or lumbar disc. Hence, MMP-1 IHC score was concluded as an independent predictor of the severity of cervical or lumbar IVD degeneration.