Beneficial Effects of Newly Isolated Akkermansia muciniphila Strains from the Human Gut on Obesity and Metabolic Dysregulation

Abstract

The identification of new probiotics with anti-obesity properties has attracted considerable interest. In the present study, the anti-obesity activities of Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) strains isolated from human stool samples and their relationship with the gut microbiota were evaluated using a high fat-diet (HFD)-fed mice model. Three strains of A. muciniphila were chosen from 27 isolates selected based on their anti-lipogenic activity in 3T3-L1 cells. The anti-lipogenic, anti-adipogenic and anti-obesity properties of these three strains were evaluated further in HFD-induced obese mice. The animals were administered these strains six times per week for 12 weeks. The treatment improved the HFD-induced metabolic disorders in mice in terms of the prevention of body weight gain, caloric intake and reduction in the weights of the major adipose tissues and total fat. In addition, it improved glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. These effects were also associated with the inhibition of low-grade intestinal inflammation and restoration of damaged gut integrity, prevention of liver steatosis and improvement of hepatic function. These results revealed a difference in the distribution pattern of the gut microbial communities between groups. Therefore, the gut microbial population modulation, at least in part, might contribute to the beneficial impact of the selected A. muciniphila strains against metabolic disorders.

Akkermansia muciniphila, a New Generation of Beneficial Microbiota in Modulating Obesity: A Systematic Review

“…It is recognized that A. muciniphila could play a crucial role on the obesity parameters in human and different mice models, such as reduced body weight, fat mass, hip circumfer-ence, caloric intake, mesenteric fat weight, subcutaneous fat weight, epididymal fat weight, total fat and energy efficiency [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38].…”

“…In addition to the role of A. muciniphila on obesity and glucose metabolism, it was thought to be involved in inflammation modulation. The results of Yang et al [29] showed that in the HFD group, TNF-a, IL-6, MCP-1, TLR2 and TLR4 colonic mRNA levels were significantly higher than in the normal group. Conversely, the colonic expression of the IL-10 gene was significantly lower.…”

“…Finally, after the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 10 studies were considered as the main source for testing the theory of A. muciniphila and its association with obesity (Figure 1). After assessing the quality of the selected studies by the Modified Downs and Black checklist, 3 studies [29][30][31] showed excellent quality, and 7 studies [32][33][34][35][36][37][38] were good quality.…”

“…Ten studies have investigated the effect of A. muciniphila supplementation on the vital obesity parameters and metabolic disorder in C57BL/6J mice models [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. In 2020, Yang et al [29] found that the body weight gain, caloric intake, mesenteric fat weight, subcutaneous fat weight, epididymal fat weight, total fat and energy efficiency significantly decreased in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice after treatment with pasteurized culture of A. muciniphila. Furthermore, authors examined the effects of bacterial supplementation on the colonic gene expression of Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and Peptide YY(PYY), which are the intestinal hormones with appetite suppressing and anti-diabetic plus antiobesity properties.…”

“…The results of one study [29] showed that in the HFD group, the fasting blood glucose level, determined by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) immediately before glucose intake (0 min), was significantly higher than in the normal fed group. However, this parameter was substantially depleted by the treatment of HFD-fed mice with A. muciniphila.…”