The fibromyalgiais characterized by generalized chronic pain, fatigue or even sleep and cognitive disorders. If the causes of the disease are still poorly known, researchers from the universities of McGill, Montreal and the McGill University Health Center (Canada) have taken a step further in understanding it. In one study, published in the journal Bread on June 18, they explain how affected patients possess a microbiome – that is, a set of bacteria colonizing their intestine – different.
Different microorganisms
A total of 156 Canadians participated in this study, including 77 who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The researchers used a variety of techniques to analyze their microbiomes. In particular, artificial intelligence was used to confirm that the changes observed in fibromyalgia were not due to other factors, such as diet, medication, physical activity, age, etc.
After all of these criteria were verified, their analyzes ultimately revealed nearly twenty different species of gut bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of volunteers with fibromyalgia, compared to the control group. The scientists also discovered that the severity of the participants’ symptoms was correlated with the increased presence of certain very specific microorganisms, or the apparent absence of others.
Improving diagnosis
These findings do not mean that these changes in the gut microbiome cause the disease. They only offer information on the latter. “At this point, it is unclear whether the changes in gut bacteria observed in patients with fibromyalgia are simply markers of the disease or if they play a role in its cause”, note the authors of the study in a press release, taken back by Science Daily. Further research will therefore be necessary to determine a causal link or not.
However, these conclusions can already lead to avenues for improving its diagnosis, which is difficult to establish. “Patients suffering from fibromyalgia know the cause of their symptoms after a very long medical process that often lasts a year”, indicated to Top Health Françoise Bécavin, President of the French Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Identifying a particular intestinal microbiome, universally correlated with the pathology, would thus make it possible to detect it more quickly.
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