The following is a summary of the “Pain Interference in End Stage Kidney Disease is Associated with Changes in Gut Microbiome Features Before and After Kidney Transplantation,” published in the February 2023 issue of Pain management by Lockwood, et al.

Trace how the gut flora is connected to pain interference before and after a kidney transplant. This study is a longitudinal, repeated-measures design in which fecal samples and pain interference data are collected before and three months after the transplant. Donors were sought through the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System’s kidney transplant center. There have been 19 people who have received a kidney from a living donor. They used pain interference scores derived from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-57 to evaluate the composition of the microbial community in the feces through shotgun metagenomic sequencing.

Although they did see a decrease in the Shannon diversity index after transplantation in both groups, we did not find any statistically significant differences between them at either time. Patients who reported pain interference before transplant had a lower fecal microbial Bray-Curtis similarity index than those who did not at 3 months posttransplant (R =.306, P =.022), and there were also significant differences between pain interference groups at 3 months posttransplant (R =.249, P =.041). After the transplant, there were significant differences in the relative abundances of various taxa between the groups, as demonstrated by pairwise models. 

ßin Akkermansia among individuals with pain interference and a higher relative abundance of taxa related to chronic inflammation in those with pain interference after transplantation. According to functional gene analysis, about 2 characteristics, including a gene involved in the peptide transport system, were highly enriched in people with pain interference. After 3 months following kidney transplantation, there are noticeable differences in the gut microbiota community structure between those with and without pain interference. Post-transplant discomfort was linked to changes in several taxa related to intestinal barrier integrity and chronic inflammation.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1524904222001771