November 11, 2024 – Dr. Amir Minerbi, director of the Institute for Pain Medicine at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel is conducting pioneering research on chronic pain, the impact of the gut microbiome, and utilizing it for the treatment of associated conditions. This research is praised by a leading, international journal.
Dr. Minerbi treats a patient at Rambam. Photography: Rambam HCC
The research of Dr. Amir Minberbi is gaining attention in the scientific community, including recent coverage by Nature, a leading peer-reviewed journal. The article highlights Minerbi's findings, suggesting that manipulating the gut microbiome through diet and other means including certain antibiotics, could offer new avenues for diagnosing and treating chronic pain. Days later, a prominent Israeli professional, medical website—Doctor’s Online—also addressed his research.
Minerbi is a member of The Leir Foundation Clinical Research Institute at Rambam and a senior lecturer at Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He notes that studies indicate that individuals with chronic pain and conditions such as fibromyalgia, endometriosis, and irritable bowel syndrome often have different gut microbiomes compared to healthy individuals.
Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic body pain, fatigue, and cognitive issues affecting 2%–4% of the population including some 250,000 individuals in Israel. “We do not know what causes it,” he says, “therefore, treatment and pain management options are limited.”
The gut microbiome has far-reaching effects on the human body that can either alleviate or aggravate pain. Minerbi’s research aims at identifying how microbial activities influence fibromyalgia, and use that data to develop new therapeutic approaches.
Future Directions and Challenges
Quoting Minerbi, Nature writes, “The next step is determining if specific microbiome profiles and their metabolites can help classify pain mechanisms.” By analyzing microbiome profiles across different chronic pain conditions, he hopes to identify common traits and unique variations.
Chronic pain imposes a massive burden on patients. Despite the challenges, scientists are optimistic that microbiome-based therapies could greatly improve the quality of life for those affected by chronic pain.
It is truly an honor for Minerbi’s Rambam research to have been acknowledged and affirmed in the highly prestigious publication, Nature.