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REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Systems Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1452774

A new target for treating intervertebral disc degeneration: Gut microbes

Provisionally accepted
Kaizhong Wang Kaizhong Wang 1Xiangyan Liu Xiangyan Liu 1Huagui Huang Huagui Huang 1Moran Suo Moran Suo 1Jinzuo Wang Jinzuo Wang 1Xin Liu Xin Liu 1Xin Chen Xin Chen 2Zhonghai Li Zhonghai Li 3*
  • 1 First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China
  • 2 The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Region, China
  • 3 Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a common clinical spinal disease and one of the main causes of low back pain (LBP). Generally speaking, IDD is considered a natural degenerative process with age. However, with the deepening of research, people have discovered that IDD is not only related to age, but also has many factors that can induce and accelerate its progression. In addition, the pathogenesis of IDD remains unclear, resulting in limited traditional treatment methods that cannot effectively prevent and treat IDD. Conservative treatment may lead to patients' dependence on drugs, and the pain relief effect is not obvious.Similarly, surgical treatment is highly invasive, with a longer recovery time and a higher recurrence rate (Fan, Chu et al. 2023).With the deepening of exploration, people have discovered that intestinal microorganisms are an important symbiotic microbial community in the human body and are closely related to the occurrence and development of various diseases. Changes in intestinal microorganisms and their metabolites may affect the body's inflammatory response, immune regulation, and metabolic processes, thereby affecting the health of the intervertebral disc. In this context, the gut microbiota has received considerable attention as a potential target for delaying or treating IDD. This article first introduces the impact of gut microbes on common distal organs, and then focuses on three potential mechanisms by which gut microbes and their metabolites influence IDD. Finally, we also summarized the methods of delaying or treating IDD by interfering with intestinal microorganisms and their metabolites. Further understanding of the potential mechanisms between intestinal microorganisms and IDD will help to formulate reasonable IDD treatment strategies to achieve ideal therapeutic effects.

    Keywords: Gut microbes, Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Low Back Pain, Spine, Inflammatory, Gut-disc axis

    Received: 21 Jun 2024; Accepted: 13 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Liu, Huang, Suo, Wang, Liu, Chen and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zhonghai Li, Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.