Intervertebral discs are the largest avascular structures in the body and depend entirely on the diffusion from blood vessels at the periphery for the supply of essential nutrients for cellular activity and the removal of metabolic wastes. Diffusion is the only source of nutrition to the intervertebral discs, and alteration of diffusion is considered to be the ifnal common pathway for disc degeneration. Yet diffusion remains poorly understood due to the paucity of reliable methods to study noninvasive diffusion in human beings in vivo. In recent years, Dynamic Contrast Enhanced-Magnetic Resonance Imaging ( DCE-MRI ) has emerged as a powerful and reliable tool to analyze the diffusion in lumbar discs. Endplate structures have also been proved to have the function of controlling the process of diffusion, and can be identified by DCE-MRI. This review focuses on the current knowledge, methodology, various factors inlfuencing the diffusion properties of the discs and the quantitative analysis of the normal, aging or degenerative intervertebral discs of this promising technique.