ArticleJCI insight2018
Targeting the gut microbiome to treat the osteoarthritis of obesity.
Article in JCI insight, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 172 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
172 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 256 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of gut microbiota-targeted interventions on pain, physical function, and inflammatory biomarkers in osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Relationship between gut microbiota and osteoarthritis: a scientometric analysis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- The Complex Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review on Potential Correlations and Therapeutic Approaches.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- Safety and efficacy of probiotic supplementation in 8 types of inflammatory arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 34 randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Gut permeability and osteoarthritis, towards a mechanistic understanding of the pathogenesis: a systematic review.Annals of medicine · 2021Pooled it
- The relation between the gut microbiome and osteoarthritis: A systematic review of literature.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of Prebiotic Supplementation With and Without Physiotherapy on Pain and Pain Sensitivity in People with Knee Osteoarthritis.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Probiotics improve functional performance in patients with osteoarthritis: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.European journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- Effect of prebiotic fiber on physical function and gut microbiota in adults, mostly women, with knee osteoarthritis and obesity: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of nutrition · 2024Trial
- Effect of green-lipped mussel (Journal of nutritional science · 2023Trial
- Improved function and strength in patients with knee osteoarthritis as a result of adding a two-day educational program to usual care. Prospective randomized trial.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2021Trial
- Gut microbiota in early and established stages of rheumatoid arthritis: from pathogenesis to promising prevention and treatment.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- What does the gut microbiome teach us about osteoarthritis development and progression?Best practice & research. Clinical rheumatology · 2026Review
- Modulating the gut-joint axis: Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis B8762 is associated with selective gut microbial and metabolic alterations in knee osteoarthritis.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Adipose-Joint Crosstalk in Obesity-Induced Osteoarthritis: Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Translational Therapeutic Opportunities.Current rheumatology reports · 2026Review
- Metabolic disorders and osteoarthritis: novel insights into pathological mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.Life medicine · 2026Review
- The gut-joint axis in osteoarthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- A Novel Strain Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum HN001 Ameliorates High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice Through Microbiome-Associated Short-Chain Fatty Acids.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota and bone aging: Focusing on the gut-X axis modes.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Review
112 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Obesity is a risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), the greatest cause of disability in the US. The impact of obesity on OA is driven by systemic inflammation, and increased systemic inflammation is now understood to be caused by gut microbiome dysbiosis. Oligofructose, a nondigestible prebiotic fiber, can restore a lean gut microbial community profile in the context of obesity, suggesting a potentially novel approach to treat the OA of obesity. Here, we report that - compared with the lean murine gut - obesity is associated with loss of beneficial Bifidobacteria, while key proinflammatory species gain in abundance. A downstream systemic inflammatory signature culminates with macrophage migration to the synovium and accelerated knee OA. Oligofructose supplementation restores the lean gut microbiome in obese mice, in part, by supporting key commensal microflora, particularly Bifidobacterium pseudolongum. This is associated with reduced inflammation in the colon, circulation, and knee and protection from OA. This observation of a gut microbiome-OA connection sets the stage for discovery of potentially new OA therapeutics involving strategic manipulation of specific microbial species inhabiting the intestinal space.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.