Saija Caterina, Bertuccio Maria Paola, Scoglio Alberto, Macaione Vincenzo, Cacciola Francesco, Micalizzi Giuseppe, Caccamo Daniela, Muscoli Carolina, Currò Monica
Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morpho-Functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
Biomedicines. 2025 Jan 9;13(1):139. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13010139.
: Several studies suggest gut microbiota metabolites as important immuno-modulators in inflammatory pain. We aimed to investigate the relationship between vitamin D status and gut dysbiosis markers in fibromyalgia (FM)-associated chronic inflammation. : Blood samples were collected from sixty-eight female FM patients (49.9 ± 12.35 years). Pain intensity was assessed by FIQ-R. The serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, IFN-γ, as well as those of vitamin D (25(OH)D3) and the kynurenine/tryptophan ratio (Kyn/Trp) were determined by ELISA and HPLC, respectively. The plasma levels of the SCFAs acetate, butyrate, and propionate were detected by GC-MS. : A mean FIQ-R score indicated that the patients could be classified as having moderate FM. The mean levels of all cytokines, but IL-6 and IL-1β, were higher than the normal reference values. The highest concentrations of cytokines were observed in patients showing the highest FIQ-R scores and the lowest 25(OH)D3 levels. Deficient levels of acetate were found paralleled by an increase in Kyn/Trp. The highest acetate concentrations were detected in patients with the lowest FIQ-R scores and 25(OH)D3 levels. Significantly negative correlations were found between 25(OH)D3 concentrations and FIQ-R scores ( = 0.007) as well as IL-17 levels ( = 0.002) and between acetate and TNF-α ( = 0.040) as well as FIQ-R scores ( = 0.028), while significantly positive correlations were observed between Kyn/Trp and IL-17 ( = 0.027) as well as IFN-γ ( = 0.003). : Our preliminary data suggest that the vitamin D status along with altered gut microbiota metabolism plays a major role in FM-related inflammatory pain. Replication of these findings in a larger cohort is required to provide additional insights.
多项研究表明，肠道微生物群代谢产物是炎症性疼痛中重要的免疫调节因子。我们旨在研究维生素D状态与纤维肌痛（FM）相关慢性炎症中肠道菌群失调标志物之间的关系。
从68名女性FM患者（49.9±12.35岁）采集血样。通过FIQ-R评估疼痛强度。分别采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）和高效液相色谱法（HPLC）测定促炎细胞因子肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、白细胞介素-17（IL-17）、干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）以及维生素D（25(OH)D3）和犬尿氨酸/色氨酸比值（Kyn/Trp）的血清水平。采用气相色谱-质谱联用仪（GC-MS）检测短链脂肪酸（SCFA）乙酸盐、丁酸盐和丙酸盐的血浆水平。
平均FIQ-R评分表明患者可归类为中度FM。除IL-6和IL-1β外，所有细胞因子的平均水平均高于正常参考值。在FIQ-R评分最高且25(OH)D3水平最低的患者中观察到细胞因子浓度最高。犬尿氨酸/色氨酸比值增加的同时发现乙酸盐水平不足。在FIQ-R评分和25(OH)D3水平最低的患者中检测到最高的乙酸盐浓度。发现25(OH)D3浓度与FIQ-R评分（=0.007）以及IL-17水平（=0.002）之间存在显著负相关，乙酸盐与TNF-α（=0.040）以及FIQ-R评分（=0.028）之间存在显著负相关，而犬尿氨酸/色氨酸比值与IL-17（=0.027）以及干扰素-γ（=0.003）之间存在显著正相关。
我们的初步数据表明，维生素D状态以及肠道微生物群代谢改变在FM相关的炎症性疼痛中起主要作用。需要在更大的队列中重复这些发现以提供更多见解。
