Transcriptome signatures reveal candidate key genes in the whole blood of patients with lumbar disc prolapse

The present study aimed to investigate differentially expressed genes in whole blood obtained from patients with lumbar disc prolapse and healthy volunteers. A total of 8 patients with lumbar disc prolapse and 8 healthy volunteers were recruited. An Agilent SurePrint G3 human gene expression microarray 8x60 K was used to perform the microarray analyses. We recruited 8 patients with lumbar disc prolapse confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging, and 8 volunteers with no clinical evidence of low back pain or sciatica. Ten millilitres of fasting WB was collected from the left median cubital vein of each participant between 7:00 and 7:30 AM. All WB samples were incubated in a PAXgene Blood RNA tube (BD, USA) for less than 72 h at -20°C and then submitted to Shanghai Bohao Biotechnology Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China) for gene chip hybridization screening. The microarray experiments were performed using an Agilent SurePrint G3 human gene expression microarray 8 ╳ 60 K at Shanghai Biotechnology Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China) following the standard protocol of Agilent Technologies (CA, USA).