Krug R, Joseph GB, Han M, et al. - Through a prospective study of 46 individuals (26 female and 20 male), researchers applied novel quantitative MRI techniques to evaluate the association between vertebral bone marrow fat (BMF) and biochemical alterations in the adjacent intervertebral disc (IVD). The associations between BMF (mean) and T1ρ/T2 (mean and SD) were important. Between clinical scores (Pfirrmann, Oswestry disability index [ODI], and visual analog scale [VAS]) with T1ρ/T2 (mean and SD), important correlations were obtained. BMF mean was significantly associated with ODI and VAS, however not with Pfirrmann. On the contrary, BMF SD was significantly correlated to Pfirrmann but not to ODI and VAS. In conclusion, notable correlations between BMF and biochemical variations in the adjacent IVD, both evaluated by quantitative MRI and this may imply that the conversion of hematopoietic bone marrow to fatty bone marrow impairs the supply of possible nutrients to cells in the IVD and may thereby expedite disc degeneration.