Objectives: The authors conducted this study to investigate the relationship between signal to noise ratio in T2 weighted signal intensity of intervertebral disc (IVD) on MRI and biomarkers associated with senescence changes. Methods: Five patients (5 male) who underwent open discectomy or posterior lumbar discectomy and fusion for symptomatic herniated nucleus pulposus (NP) were included. The NP specimens were grouped according to a grading system for IVD degeneration based on the preoperative MRI and SNR was measured. The SA-b-gal activity of the NP cells was determined and the percentage of SA-b-gal-positive NP cells were calculated. The telomerase activity was analyzed and the amount of TRAP products was determined by measurement of their absorbance at 450 nm. Results: The mean patient age was 35.2 years (range: 21-52 years, SD ±17.283). There was no significant correlation between every age and SNR (Spearman’s test, r2=0.440, p=0.111). As degenerative changes became more distinct, decrement of SNR showed each senescence marker changed to the same tendency in the patient with age of fifties. The correlation between SNR and SA-b-gal was not statistically significant. However, SNR was slightly correlated with SA-b-gal. (R2 = 0.0404, p = 0.373) Despite the lack of statistical significance, there was a negative correlation between telomerase activity and SNR. (R2 = 0.3103, p = 0.165) In aged group of twenties, the means of the percentages of the SA-b-gal-positive NPCs from the patients aged 21, 21, and 26 years were 63.25%, 42.21%, and 62.27%, respectively, at passage 3 and the means of the percentages of the SA-b-gal-positive NPCs from the patients aged with fifties were 56.97% and 71.84% respectively at passage 3. There was a steady decline in the telomerase activity of the NP cells with advancing passages, irrespective of patient age. However, this tendency did not have statistical significance. (p>0.05) Conclusions: The NP cells in aging discs exhibited characteristic senescent features such as an increased SA-b-gal expression and decreased telomerase activity. SNR is associated with degenerative changes of NP, and as it increases, the number of SA-b-gal positive cells increases and telomerase activity tends to decrease.