The purpose of this study was to further characterize the altered metabolism spondylolisthesis that promotes disease progression. Degenerative human cartilage (intervertebral disc, facet joint and vertebral end-plate) was obtained during 15 posterior lumbar spine interbody fusion procedures performed at the University of Szeged. The thermal properties of samples were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (Mettler-Toledo DSC 821e). Greatest change in the enthalpy was observed in the intervertebral disc samples: −1600.78 J g−1. Denaturation caused by heating in the normal human hyaline cartilage needed −1493.31 J g−1 energy. Characterization of the altered metabolism that promotes disease progression should lead to future treatment options.