Action and function of Akkermansia muciniphila in microbiome ecology, health and disease

Abstract

The discovery of Akkermansia muciniphila has opened new avenues for the use of this abundant intestinal symbiont in next generation therapeutic products, as well as targeting microbiota dynamics. A. muciniphila is known to colonize the mucosal layer of the human intestine where it triggers both host metabolic and immune responses. A. muciniphila is particularly effective in increasing mucus thickness and increasing gut barrier function. As a result host metabolic markers ameliorate. The mechanism of host regulation is thought to involve the outer membrane composition, including the type IV pili of A. muciniphila, that directly signal to host immune receptors. At the same time the metabolic activity of A. muciniphila leads to the production of short chain fatty acids that are beneficial to the host and microbiota members. This contributes to host-microbiota and microbe-microbe syntrophy The mucolytic activity and metabolite production make A. muciniphila a key species in the mucus layer, stimulating beneficial mucosal microbial networks. This well studied member of the microbiota has been studied in three aspects that will be further described in this review: i) A. muciniphila characteristics and mucin adaptation, ii) its role as key species in the mucosal microbiome, and iii) its role in host health.

The composition and structure of the intestinal microflora of Anguilla marmorata at different growth rates: a deep sequencing study

“…; Ottman et al . ). However, previous studies that focused on fish intestinal microflora do not report on the importance of this microbe for fish gut health.…”

“…Moreover, species, named A. muciniphila were also identified from the normal-growth group eels, which were initially isolated from a human faecal sample (Derrien et al 2004) but seemed to be rarely present in the fish gut. Growing evidence revealed that A. muciniphila is associated with both human and animal gut health (Belzer and de Vos 2012;G omez-Gallego et al 2016;Ottman et al 2017). However, previous studies that focused on fish intestinal microflora do not report on the importance of this microbe for fish gut health.…”

Pomegranate peel extract alters the microbiome in mice and dysbiosis caused by Citrobacter rodentium infection

“…Grape and apple polyphenols improved the outcome of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)‐induced colitis in rats (Boussenna et al, ; Denis et al, ). Fruit extracts, rich in polyphenols, including pomegranate, stimulated the growth of Akkermansia municiphila (Anhe, Roy, Pilon, & Dudonne, ; Henning, Summanen, Lee, & Yang, ; Li, Henning, et al, ; Zhang et al, ) which is thought to have beneficial health effects (Ottman, Geerlings, Aalvink, Vos, & Belzer, ). An increase in Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) , enterobacteria, and total aerobic counts was found in feces from DSS‐treated rats that decreased in response to treatment with pomegranate extract, or its metabolite urolithin A (Larrosa et al, ).…”

Model‐driven design of a minimal medium for Akkermansia muciniphila confirms mucus adaptation

“…Moreover, in a series of preclinical interventions in mice, it was shown that A. muciniphila reversed diet‐induced metabolic fat‐mass gain and insulin resistance (Everard et al ., ; Plovier et al ., ) possibly due to outer membrane produced pili (Ottman et al ., ; Plovier et al ., ). To better understand the physiological properties, clinical effects and function of A. muciniphila (Ottman et al ., in press), it is essential to have a defined minimal medium for growth. Such a medium can also be the basis for the application of A. muciniphila as a therapeutic microbe as the medium components should be defined and preferably of non‐animal origin before clinical tests can be conducted.…”