Poo transplants suggest gut bugs play a role in fibromyalgia pain

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-04-25 01:00

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Mice who have poo transplants from patients with fibromyalgia show increased pain sensitivity, suggesting the gut microbiome plays a role in fibromyalgia pain, according to international research. Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes pain throughout the body, as well as fatigue and trouble sleeping, but the cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, and effective treatments are unavailable. The study also found that replacing the fibromyalgia microbiota with a healthy microbiota substantially alleviated the pain in mice. The authors conclude that altered gut microbiota has a role in fibromyalgia pain, highlighting it as a promising target for treatments.

Journal/
conference: Neuron

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: McGill University, Canada, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

Funder: This study was supported by the Weston Family Foundation and The Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation to Y.S., A.M., and A.K. The project was also supported by the Israel Ministry of Health Chief Scientist Grant for Pilot Studies to A.M. and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR, PJT-191992) to A.K. and Y.S. W.C. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from The Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation and the Fonds de recherche du Que ́ bec – Sante ́ (FRQS). M.D. was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research postdoctoral fellowship.

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