What is Akkermansia muciniphila?

Akkermansia muciniphila is a mucin-degrading bacterium commonly found in human gut. Mucins are glycoprotein components of the mucous that coats the surfaces of cells lining the respiratory, digestive, and urogenital tracts. Increased mucin production occurs in many cancers (pancreas, lung, breast, ovary, colon and other tissues). Mucins are also over-expressed in lung diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cystic fibrosis.

Akkermansia muciniphila has been reported as a beneficial bacterium that reduces gut barrier disruption and insulin resistance.

Studies have identified a loss in abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Akkermansia muciniphila has been inversely associated with:

obesity
diabetes
inflammation, and
metabolic disorders.

Due to its highly promising probiotic activities against obesity and diabetes, Akkermansia muciniphila drawn intensive interest for research and development in recent years. A number of human and animal studies have shown that the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila in the gut can be enhanced through dietary interventions.

Akkermansia muciniphila may represent 3–5% of the microbial composition in the healthy human intestinal tract, and have a crucial role in the regulation of the gut barrier and other homeostatic and metabolic functions.

References:

Akkermansia muciniphila-derived extracellular vesicles influence gut permeability through the regulation of tight junctions, https://www.nature.com/articles/emm2017282
Derrien M, Vaughan EE, Plugge CM, de Vos WM. Akkermansia muciniphila gen. nov., sp. nov., a human intestinal mucin-degrading bacterium. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2004; 54: 1469–1476.
Strategies to promote abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila, an emerging probiotics in the gut, evidence from dietary intervention studies, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464617301627
Mucins in cancer: function, prognosis and therapy, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951677/

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