Oral Presentation Sydney Spinal Virtual Symposium 2020

The Role of Microbiome in chronic Low Back Pain (#6)

Wentian Li 1 , Zhaoming Zheng 2 , Abhirup Das 1 , Ashish Diwan 1
  1. UNSW, Sydeny
  2. Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou

Chronic Low Back Pain (cLBP) is a major cause of disability worldwide. There are numerous potential causes of cLBP, but intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is regarded as the most likely cause. Modic Changes (MCs) is one of IDD. They are MRI signal changes in the vertebral bone marrow extending from the endplate and are defined into types I (edema type), II (fatty type) and III (sclerotic type) based on their MRI signals. Much research has been done on understanding the characteristics of MCs, including the pain association, prevalence and risk factors. However, only a few have focused on studying the pathobiology of MCs. Based on the current research result, we doubt the function of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) plays an important role in the LBP. In addition, microbiome also play an important role in degenerative diseases, like Parkinson's Disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis. We are trying to find the potential relationship between microbiome and LBP. We observed there were disc degenerations and MCs’ appearances in the spine of High Fed Diet mice by Micro-CT and HE staining. We are working on recruiting 100 LBP participants and collecting their blood samples and biological samples, including stool, skin and oral swabs. The microbiome composition in these samples will be determined using 16S rRNA and shot-gun sequencing. This research aims to clarify the role of the microbiome in the genesis of LBP. A thorough understanding of the potential mechanisms of this phenomenon will aid us in developing a novel treatment for LBP.