It has been reported that bupivacaine, the most widely used local anesthetic to relieve discogenic back pain in clinical settings, is cytotoxic to intervertebral disc (IVD) cells in vitro; however, the precise mechanisms of cytotoxicity induced by bupivacaine remain unclear. Autophagy is an intracellular lysosomal degradation process that is important for cellular survival. The present study investigated the role of autophagy in the survival of IVD cells subjected to bupivacaine treatment. Human nucleus pulposus (NP) cells isolated from IVD cel...
