Metformin for low back pain: Study protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Chronic low back pain is a major cause of pain and disability with limited effective therapies. Metformin is a safe, inexpensive, well-tolerated drug that has pleotropic effects, including effects on pain pathways that may influence low back pain. The aim of this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is to determine whether metformin reduces low back pain over 4 months in individuals with chronic low back pain.

Body Composition and Incident High-Intensity Back Pain and/or High Disability: A 10-Year Prospective Population-Based Male Cohort.

Background: Back pain poses a significant global burden, within which individuals with more severe symptoms consume higher healthcare expenses than those with lesser back pain. Whether measures of body composition predict high-intensity back pain and/or high-disability in population-based cohorts is unknown. This study aimed to examine the association between body composition at baseline and their change in the prior 5 years (between 2001-2005 and 2006-2010) and incident high-intensity back pain and/or high-disability in long-term follow-up, 10 years later (2016-2021) in a population-based cohort of men.

Whole genome sequencing enhances molecular diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Background: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetic disorder affecting motile cilia. Most cases are inherited recessively, due to variants in >50 genes that result in abnormal or absent motile cilia. This leads to chronic upper and lower airway disease, subfertility, and laterality defects.

How to: assess patient suitability for unlicensed phage therapy in the United Kingdom.

Background: Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is a promising alternative antimicrobial approach that has the potential to transform the way we treat bacterial infections. The antibiotic resistance crisis is driving renewed interest in phage therapy. There are currently no licensed phage therapy medicinal products and phage therapy is used in small but growing patient numbers on an unlicensed basis.