ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2025
The brain-gut axis and chronic pain: mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.
Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Intermittent fasting and chronic pain: Protocol for a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Comorbidity Mechanism and Management of Chronic Low Back Pain and Major Depressive Disorder: From Neural Circuit Remodeling to Precision Medicine.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- Sensory Blurring in Nociplastic Pain: The Role of Descending Inhibitory Dysfunction and Gut-Brain Axis Alterations in Older Adults.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Gut Microbiome-Driven Microglial Activation Links Dysbiosis to Pain in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome.Research square · 2026Article
- Clinical efficacy and putative analgesic mechanism of heat-sensitive moxibustion for chronic nonspecific low back pain: a single-arm before-after study based on the brain-gut-immune axis.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2026Article
- Postpartum Pain and Vaginal-Gut Microbiota Interactions: An Integrative Narrative Review with Implications for Maternal Recovery and Pain Modulation.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Bidirectional Communication of the Gut-Brain Axis in Pain Regulation: From Microbial Metabolites to Neuroinflammation.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Evolving Concepts in the Diagnosis and Management of Fibromyalgia: A Moving Target.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Immune-nutritional interactions in endometriosis: current evidence and future perspectives in disease management.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Gut Microbiota-Associated Sakuranin Modulates Endometrial Stem Cell Differentiation and Inflammation to Alleviate Pain in Endometriosis.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- A taxon-centered review of bacterial shifts in psychiatric disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Potential of Vagus Nerve Stimulation to Modulate Fibromyalgia's Network Physiology: A Systematic Review.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- [Research progress on vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of chronic pain].Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2025Review
- Oral and Gut Health, (Neuro) Inflammation, and Central Sensitization in Chronic Pain: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Treatment Opportunities, and Research Agenda.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Nutrition care in pain rehabilitation-success and lessons from practice.Pain management · 2025Review
- Physical capacity modulates intestinal barrier dysfunction in functional disorders: phenotype-specific patterns in fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota in irritable bowel syndrome: a narrative review of mechanisms and microbiome-based therapies.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Gut Microbiota as a Therapeutic Target for Chronic Pain Disorders.Innovations in clinical neuroscienceArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The brain-gut axis (BGA) is emerging as a critical mediator in chronic pain, involving bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal system. The "Pain Matrix" is associated with microbial dysbiosis, vagus nerve dysfunction, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, driving neuroinflammation and central sensitization. Key mechanisms include microbial diversity loss, leaky gut, and altered neuroactive signaling via short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and vagal pathways. This narrative review explores the intricate interplay between BGA mechanisms and chronic pain, highlighting therapeutic opportunities such as restoring dysbiosis, modulating vagus nerve activity, and regulating endocrine pathways. These interventions target inflammation, autonomic balance, and stress/reward pathway modulation, offering a promising path toward integrative pain management. Further research is required to validate these strategies and improve patient outcomes.
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.