ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2024
Causal associations between gut microbiota with intervertebral disk degeneration, low back pain, and sciatica: a Mendelian randomization study.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Causal links between multi-domain risk factors and intervertebral disc degeneration: a systematic review and meta-analysis of Mendelian randomization studies.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Application of GBD 2021 and multiple omics to reveal the association and potential mechanism between glycated hemoglobin and intervertebral disc degeneration.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Akkermansia muciniphila attenuates intervertebral disc degeneration via extracellular vesicle-mediated delivery of the effector protein B2UKX5.Bone research · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota and bone aging: Focusing on the gut-X axis modes.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Review
- Gut mucosal microbiota and local intervertebral disc immunity: candidate circulating-cytokine-independent pathways informed by Mendelian randomization evidence.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Inflammatory protein mediators linking gut microbiota to degenerative lumbar spine disorders: cross-disease genetic evidence.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Causal associations between abdominal obesity, dietary patterns, and intervertebral disc degeneration: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study with clinical validation.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- In the Mouth or in the Gut? Innovation Through Implementing Oral and Gastrointestinal Health Science in Chronic Pain Management.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Gut-disc axis: A Mendelian randomization study on the relationship between gut microbiota and cervical spondylosis.Medicine · 2025Article
- Druggable Genome-Wide Mendelian Randomization Identifies Distinct Therapeutic Targets for Low Back Pain, Intervertebral Disk Degeneration, and Sciatica.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Association between lipid-lowering agents with intervertebral disc degeneration, sciatica and low back pain: a drug-targeted mendelian randomized study and cross-sectional observation.Lipids in health and disease · 2024Observational
- Letter to the editor concerning "Causal associations between gut microbiota with intervertebral disk degeneration, low back pain, and sciatica: a mendelian randomization study" by Fang M, et al. (Eur Spine J [2024]; doi: 10.1007/s00586-024-08131-x).European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2024Article
- A new target for treating intervertebral disk degeneration: gut microbes.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeAlthough studies have suggested that gut microbiota may be associated with intervertebral disk disease, their causal relationship is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between the gut microbiota and its metabolic pathways with the risk of intervertebral disk degeneration (IVDD), low back pain (LBP), and sciatica.
methodsGenetic variation data for 211 gut microbiota taxa at the phylum to genus level were obtained from the MiBioGen consortium. Genetic variation data for 105 taxa at the species level and 205 metabolic pathways were obtained from the Dutch Microbiome Project. Genetic variation data for disease outcomes were obtained from the FinnGen consortium. The causal relationships between the gut microbiota and its metabolic pathways and the risk of IVDD, LBP, and sciatica were evaluated via Mendelian randomization (MR). The robustness of the results was assessed through sensitivity analysis.
resultsInverse variance weighting identified 46 taxa and 33 metabolic pathways that were causally related to IVDD, LBP, and sciatica. After correction by weighted median and MR-PRESSO, 15 taxa and nine pathways remained stable. After FDR correction, only the effect of the genus_Eubacterium coprostanoligenes group on IVDD remained stable. Sensitivity analyses showed no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneity, or reverse causation.
conclusionSome microbial taxa and their metabolic pathways are causally related to IVDD, LBP, and sciatica and may serve as potential intervention targets. This study provides new insights into the mechanisms of gut microbiota-mediated development of intervertebral disk disease.
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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.