Gut microbiota between intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) and non-IDD individuals
Using the Pfirrmann grading system, fecal samples were collected from 15 patients with intervertebral disc degeneration and 5 non-degenerated control subjects for 16s rRNA sequencing. Among them, the non-degenerated control samples were designated as B1-B5; Pfirrmann grade I samples as A1-A3; grade II as A4-A6; grade III as A7-A9; grade IV as A10-A12; and grade V as A13-A15.