Insight into the Causal Relationship between Gut Microbiota and Back Pain: A Two Sample Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study

Observational studies have shown that alterations in gut microbiota composition are associated with low back pain. However, it remains unclear whether the association is causal. To reveal the causal association between gut microbiota and low back pain, a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis is performed. The inverse variance weighted regression (IVW) is performed as the principal MR analysis. MR-Egger and Weighted Median is further conducted as complementary analysis to validate the robustness of the results. Finally, a reverse MR analysis is performed to evaluate the possibility of reverse causation. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method suggests that Peptostreptococcaceae (odds ratio [OR] 1.056, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.015–1.098], P_IVW = 0.010), and Lactobacillaceae (OR 1.070, 95% CI [1.026–1.115], P_IVW = 0.003) are positively associated with back pain. The Ruminococcaceae (OR 0.923, 95% CI [0.849–0.997], P_IVW = 0.033), Butyricicoccus (OR 0.920, 95% CI [0.868 - 0.972], P_IVW = 0.002), and Lachnospiraceae (OR 0.948, 95% CI [0.903–0.994], P_IVW = 0.022) are negatively associated with back pain. In this study, underlying causal relationships are identified among gut microbiota and low back pain. Notably, further research is needed on the biological mechanisms by which gut microbiota influences low back pain.