Abstract: Objective: To explore the expressions of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α) and glucose transporter protein-1(GLUT-1) in human lumbar disc degeneration and its significance.Methods: The nucleus pulposus tissues from the normal intervertebral disc of younger with lumbar burst fracture and degenerative intervertebral disc of patients were divided into the control group and experiment group,respectively,and the experiment group were subdivided into two groups according to their preoperative MRI images.The expressions of HIF-1α and GLUT-1 in 3 groups were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR.Results: Immunohistochemistry showed that the HIF-1α and GLUT-1 expressions were weak positive in control group,positive in moderate degeneration group and strongly positive in severe degeneration group.The expressions of HIF-1α and GLUT-1 strengthened with the degeneration degree of lumbar intervertebral disc aggravating(P<0.01).RT-PCR showed that the expressions of HIF-1α and GLUT-1 genes were found in human disc tissue,and the differences of the expressions of HIF-1α and GLUT-1 between 3 groups were statistically significant(P<0.01).Conclusions: HIF-1α and GLUT-1 are likely to participate in the degeneration of human lumbar disc,and their expressions show the same increasing trend.The detections of HIF-1α and GLUT-1 in human lumbar disc tissue can predict the degeneration of human lumbar disc,which can provide a new knowledge in the prevention and treatment of lumbar disc degeneration.