showed a trendp = 0.1597
3.7.2 Validation of mRNA and protein expressions Compared to disc tissues graded as Pfirrmann II, those graded as Grade III and IV showed a significant increase in the mRNA expression of CKAP4 ( p = 0.0496 and p = 0.0085, respectively), while Grade V showed a trend increase without statistical significance ( p = 0.1597).