… Search

Wiki Loves Monuments: Photograph a

monument, help Wikipedia and win!
Learn more

Akkermansia muciniphila
Article Talk

… … …

Akkermansia muciniphila is a species of human

intestinal mucin-degrading bacterium, the type
species for a new genus, Akkermansia, proposed
in 2004 by Muriel Derrien and Willem de
Vos.[1][2]: 1474  Extensive research is being
undertaken to understand its association with
obesity, type 2 diabetes, and
inflammation.[3][4][5][6][7]

Akkermansia muciniphila

Scientific classification

Domain: Bacteria

Phylum: Verrucomicrobiota

Class: Verrucomicrobiae

Order: Verrucomicrobiales

Family: Akkermansiaceae

Genus: Akkermansia

Species: A. muciniphila

Binomial name

Akkermansia muciniphila
Derrien et al 2004

Biology and Biochemistry …

A. muciniphila is a Gram-negative, strictly

anaerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming, oval-
shaped bacterium. Its type strain is MucT (=ATCC
BAA-835T =CIP 107961T).[2] A. muciniphila is
able to use mucin as its sole source of carbon
and nitrogen, is culturable under anaerobic
conditions on medium containing gastric mucin,
and is able to colonize the gastrointestinal tracts
of a number of animal species.[2][8]

Recently, A. muciniphila strain Urmite became

the first (evidently) unculturable bacterial strain
to be sequenced in its entirety entirely from a
human stool sample.[9]

Human metabolism …

A. muciniphila is believed to have anti-

inflammatory effects in humans, and studies
have shown inverse relationships between A.
muciniphila colonization and inflammatory
conditions such as appendicitis or inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD). In one study, reduced levels
of A. muciniphila correlated with increased
severity of appendicitis. In a separate study, IBD
patients were found to have lower levels A.
muciniphila in their intestinal tract than
individuals without IBD.[8]

Researchers have discovered that A. muciniphila

could be used to combat obesity and type 2
diabetes.[10] The first study was carried out with
mice, overfed to contain three times more fat
than their lean cousin. The obese mice were then
fed the bacteria, which were shown to reduce the
fat burden of the mice by half without any
change to the mice's diet. This effect was
associated with a restoration of a proper gut
barrier function, which means the absence of
leakage of inflammatory bacterial compounds in
the blood. Interestingly, in the same study, the
authors found that if the bacteria was killed by
very high temperature (autoclaving), the bacteria
was unable to improve the metabolic
response.[11] A study published in June 2015
showed an association between A. muciniphila
abundance, insulin sensitivity, and healthier
metabolic status in overweight/obese adults. The
healthier subjects were those with high A.
muciniphila abundance and gut microbial
richness. In addition, this study showed that
having higher abundance of A. muciniphila at
baseline was associated with greater clinical
benefits after weight loss.[6] The bacterium is
naturally present in the human digestive tract at
3-5%, but has been seen to fall with obesity.[12]

In August 2015, additional research

demonstrated that dietary fats influence the
growth of Akkermansia muciniphilia relative to
other bacterium in the dietary tract. Researchers
conducted a study in which mice were fed diets
which varied in fat composition but were
otherwise identical: one group received lard,
while the other received fish oil. After 11 weeks,
the group receiving a fish oil diet had increased
levels of A. muciniphila and bacterium of genus
Lactobacillus, while the group receiving a lard
diet had decreased levels of A. muciniphila and
Lactobacillus. Additionally, fecal material from
mice on the fish oil diet or the lard based diet
was transplanted into a new group of mice which
had their native gut flora eradicated by
antibiotics. All of these mice were then fed a lard
based diet. Despite receiving the same lard-
based diet for 3 weeks, recipients of transplants
from lard-fed donor mice showed increased
levels of Lactobacillus and increased levels of
inflammation, while recipients of transplants from
fish oil-fed donors showed increased levels of A.
muciniphila and decreased levels of
inflammation. Researchers concluded that the
increase in A. muciniphila corresponded to a
reduction in inflammation, indicating a link
between dietary fats, gut flora composition, and
inflammation levels.[5] In 2017, it was discovered
that pasteurizing (70 °C 30min) the bacteria
increased the beneficial effects of the bacteria
by a mechanism likely associated with the
presence of a protein present on the outer
membrane of Akkermansia muciniphila and called
Amuc_1100.[13] Then in 2019, the same team of
Belgian researchers from the UCLouvain tested
for the first time in humans the impact of an oral
supplementation with either A. muciniphila alive
or pasteurized versus a placebo for 3 months. In
this double-blind placebo-controlled proof-of-
concept study, they found that the overweight or
obese insulin resistant subjects displayed an
improved metabolism with lower blood insulin,
lower insulin resistance, lower inflammation and
better cardiometabolic profile.[14] More recently,
they have linked this effect with the possible
increased production of some endocannabinoids
acting on the receptor PPAR-a.[15]

Effects in cancer
…
immunotherapy treatment

One study looked at 249 patients with lung or

kidney cancer, A. muciniphila was in 69% of
patients that did respond compared with just a
third of those who did not. Boosting levels of A.
muciniphila in mice seemed to also boost their
response to immunotherapy.[16]

Effects in ALS in a mouse

…
model

Researchers discovered that a mouse model of

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis suffers from an
abnormal gut microbiome, and that
supplementing these mice with Akkermansia
muciniphila improved their symptoms, slowed the
progression of their disease, and increased their
survival.[17] Moreover, they found that A.
muciniphila produce the vitamin nicotinamide,
which when injected into the diseased mice
improved their motor symptoms, although it did
not increase their lifespan as the bacteria had.[17]
They also found lower levels of nicotinamide in
the circulation and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
of a small sample human ALS patients compared
to their family members, and lower levels of A.
muciniphila in their stool.[17] In addition, ALS
patients with lower levels of nicotinamide in their
blood tended to have worse symptoms than
patients with higher levels.[17]

References …

1. ^ de Vos, W.M. (2017). "Microbe Profile:

Akkermansia muciniphila: a conserved intestinal
symbiont that acts as the gatekeeper of our
mucosa" . Microbiology. 1635 (5): 646–648.
doi:10.1099/mic.0.000444 . PMID 28530168 .

2. ^ a b c Derrien, M. (2004). "Akkermansia

muciniphila gen. nov., sp. nov., a human intestinal
mucin-degrading bacterium" . International
Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary
Microbiology. 54 (5): 1469–1476.
doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02873-0 . PMID 15388697 .

3. ^ Everard, Amandine; Belzer, Clara; Geurts, Lucie;

Ouwerkerk, Janneke P.; Druart, Céline; Bindels,
Laure B.; Guiot, Yves; Derrien, Muriel; Muccioli,
Giulio G.; Delzenne, Nathalie M.; de Vos, Willem M.;
Cani, Patrice D. (28 May 2013). "Cross-talk
between Akkermansia muciniphila and intestinal
epithelium controls diet-induced obesity" .
Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America. 110
(22): 9066–9071.
Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.9066E .
doi:10.1073/pnas.1219451110 . PMC 3670398 .
PMID 23671105 .

4. ^ "Intestinal bacterium Akkermansia curbs

obesity" . ScienceDaily. May 15, 2013.

5. ^ a b Caesar, Robert; Tremaroli, Valentina;

Kovatcheva-Datchary, Petia; Cani, Patrice D.;
Bäckhed, Fredrik (2015). "Crosstalk between Gut
Microbiota and Dietary Lipids Aggravates WAT
Inflammation through TLR Signaling" . Cell
Metabolism. 22 (4): 658–668.
doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2015.07.026 . PMC 4598654 .
PMID 26321659 . "Mice that received microbiota
from a lard-fed donor showed increased adiposity
and inflammation, together with a significant
increase in Lactobacillus, compared to mice that
received microbiota from a fish-oil-fed donor.
Therefore, these data do not provide evidence for a
role of Lactobacillus in reducing inflammation.
However, we found that the enrichment of
Akkermansia co-occurred with partial protection
against adiposity and inflammation in mice
transplanted with fish-oil microbiota and fed a lard
diet, highlighting Akkermansia as a potential
mediator of the improved inflammatory and
metabolic phenotype of mice fed fish oil."

6. ^ a b Dao, Maria Carlota; Everard, Amandine; Aron-

Wisnewsky, Judith; Sokolovska, Nataliya; Prifti, Edi;
Verger, Eric O; Kayser, Brandon D; Levenez,
Florence; Chilloux, Julien; Hoyles, Lesley; Dumas,
Marc-Emmanuel; Rizkalla, Salwa W; Doré, Joel;
Cani, Patrice D; Clément, Karine; Clément, K (March
2016). "Akkermansia muciniphila and improved
metabolic health during a dietary intervention in
obesity: relationship with gut microbiome richness
and ecology" . Gut. 65 (3): 426–436.
doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2014-308778 .
PMID 26100928 .

7. ^ Derrien, Muriel; Belzer, Clara; de Vos, Willem M.

(2016-02-11). "Akkermansia muciniphila and its role
in regulating host functions". Microbial
Pathogenesis. 106: 171–181.
doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2016.02.005 .
hdl:10138/236401 . PMID 26875998 .

8. ^ a b van Passel, Mark W. J.; Kant, Ravi; Zoetendal,

Erwin G.; Plugge, Caroline M.; Derrien, Muriel;
Malfatti, Stephanie A.; Chain, Patrick S. G.; Woyke,
Tanja; Palva, Airi; de Vos, Willem M.; Smidt, Hauke
(3 March 2011). "The Genome of Akkermansia
muciniphila, a Dedicated Intestinal Mucin Degrader,
and Its Use in Exploring Intestinal Metagenomes" .
PLOS ONE. 6 (3): e16876.
Bibcode:2011PLoSO...616876V .
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016876 .
PMC 3048395 . PMID 21390229 .

9. ^ Caputo, Aurélia; Dubourg, Grégory; Croce,

Olivier; Gupta, Sushim; Robert, Catherine;
Papazian, Laurent; Rolain, Jean-Marc; Raoult,
Didier (2015). "Whole-genome assembly of
Akkermansia muciniphila sequenced directly from
human stool" . Biology Direct. 10 (1): 5.
doi:10.1186/s13062-015-0041-1 .
PMC 4333879 . PMID 25888298 .

10. ^ Cani, Patrice D.; de Vos, Willem M. (2017). "Next-

Generation Beneficial Microbes: The Case of
Akkermansia muciniphila" . Frontiers in
Microbiology. 8: 1765.
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.01765 . ISSN 1664-
302X . PMC 5614963 . PMID 29018410 .

11. ^ Everard, Amandine; Belzer, Clara; Geurts, Lucie;

Ouwerkerk, Janneke P.; Druart, Céline; Bindels,
Laure B.; Guiot, Yves; Derrien, Muriel; Muccioli,
Giulio G.; Delzenne, Nathalie M.; Vos, Willem M. de
(2013-05-28). "Cross-talk between Akkermansia
muciniphila and intestinal epithelium controls diet-
induced obesity" . Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. 110 (22): 9066–9071.
Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.9066E .
doi:10.1073/pnas.1219451110 . ISSN 0027-
8424 . PMC 3670398 . PMID 23671105 .

12. ^ Owens, Brian (13 May 2013). "Gut microbe may

fight obesity and diabetes". Nature.
doi:10.1038/nature.2013.12975 .
S2CID 75514381 .

13. ^ Plovier, Hubert; Everard, Amandine; Druart,

Céline; Depommier, Clara; Van Hul, Matthias;
Geurts, Lucie; Chilloux, Julien; Ottman, Noora;
Duparc, Thibaut; Lichtenstein, Laeticia; Myridakis,
Antonis (January 2017). "A purified membrane
protein from Akkermansia muciniphila or the
pasteurized bacterium improves metabolism in
obese and diabetic mice" . Nature Medicine. 23
(1): 107–113. doi:10.1038/nm.4236 .
hdl:10044/1/42901 . ISSN 1546-170X .
PMID 27892954 . S2CID 205397880 .

14. ^ Depommier, Clara; Everard, Amandine; Druart,

Céline; Plovier, Hubert; Van Hul, Matthias; Vieira-
Silva, Sara; Falony, Gwen; Raes, Jeroen; Maiter,
Dominique; Delzenne, Nathalie M.; de Barsy, Marie
(July 2019). "Supplementation with Akkermansia
muciniphila in overweight and obese human
volunteers: a proof-of-concept exploratory
study" . Nature Medicine. 25 (7): 1096–1103.
doi:10.1038/s41591-019-0495-2 . ISSN 1546-
170X . PMC 6699990 . PMID 31263284 .

15. ^ Depommier, Clara; Vitale, Rosa Maria; Iannotti,

Fabio Arturo; Silvestri, Cristoforo; Flamand, Nicolas;
Druart, Céline; Everard, Amandine; Pelicaen, Rudy;
Maiter, Dominique; Thissen, Jean-Paul; Loumaye,
Audrey (January 2021). "Beneficial Effects of
Akkermansia muciniphila Are Not Associated with
Major Changes in the Circulating
Endocannabinoidome but Linked to Higher Mono-
Palmitoyl-Glycerol Levels as New PPARα
Agonists" . Cells. 10 (1): 185.
doi:10.3390/cells10010185 . PMC 7832901 .
PMID 33477821 .

16. ^ Routy, Bertrand; Le Chatelier, Emmanuelle;

Derosa, Lisa; Duong, Connie P. M.; Alou, Maryam
Tidjani; Daillère, Romain; Fluckiger, Aurélie;
Messaoudene, Meriem; Rauber, Conrad; Roberti,
Maria P.; Fidelle, Marine; Flament, Caroline; Poirier-
Colame, Vichnou; Opolon, Paule; Klein, Christophe;
Iribarren, Kristina; Mondragón, Laura; Jacquelot,
Nicolas; Qu, Bo; Ferrere, Gladys; Clémenson,
Céline; Mezquita, Laura; Masip, Jordi Remon;
Naltet, Charles; Brosseau, Solenn; Kaderbhai,
Coureche; Richard, Corentin; Rizvi, Hira; Levenez,
Florence; Galleron, Nathalie; Quinquis, Benoit;
Pons, Nicolas; Ryffel, Bernhard; Minard-Colin,
Véronique; Gonin, Patrick; Soria, Jean-Charles;
Deutsch, Eric; Loriot, Yohann; Ghiringhelli, François;
Zalcman, Gérard; Goldwasser, François; Escudier,
Bernard; Hellmann, Matthew D.; Eggermont,
Alexander; Raoult, Didier; Albiges, Laurence;
Kroemer, Guido; Zitvogel, Laurence (5 January
2018). "Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-
1–based immunotherapy against epithelial
tumors" . Science. 359 (6371): 91–97.
Bibcode:2018Sci...359...91R .
doi:10.1126/science.aan3706 . PMID 29097494 .

17. ^ a b c d Blacher, Eran; Bashiardes, Stavros;

Shapiro, Hagit; Rothschild, Daphna; Mor, Uria; Dori-
Bachash, Mally; Kleimeyer, Christian; Moresi,
Claudia; Harnik, Yotam; Zur, Maya; Zabari, Michal;
Brik, Rotem Ben-Zeev; Kviatcovsky, Denise; Zmora,
Niv; Cohen, Yotam; Bar, Noam; Levi, Izhak; Amar,
Nira; Mehlman, Tevie; Brandis, Alexander; Biton,
Inbal; Kuperman, Yael; Tsoory, Michael; Alfahel,
Leenor; Harmelin, Alon; Schwartz, Michal;
Israelson, Adrian; Arike, Liisa; Johansson, Malin E.
V.; Hansson, Gunnar C.; Gotkine, Marc; Segal, Eran;
Elinav, Eran (August 2019). "Potential roles of gut
microbiome and metabolites in modulating ALS in
mice". Nature. 572 (7770): 474–480.
Bibcode:2019Natur.572..474B .
doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1443-5 .
PMID 31330533 . S2CID 198172518 .

Further reading …

Derrien, Muriel; Collado, M. Carmen; Ben-

Amor, Kaouther; Salminen, Seppo; de Vos,
Willem M. (2008). "The Mucin Degrader
Akkermansia muciniphila Is an Abundant
Resident of the Human Intestinal Tract" .
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 74
(5): 1646–1648.
Bibcode:2008ApEnM..74.1646D .
doi:10.1128/AEM.01226-07 . PMC 2258631 .
PMID 18083887 .

External links …

"Akkermansia muciniphila" at the

Encyclopedia of Life

Type strain of Akkermansia muciniphila at

BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase

Portal:

Biology

Last edited 7 months ago by Ninjataco…

RELATED ARTICLES

Bacillota
Phylum of bacteria

Akkermansia
Genus of bacteria

Akkermansia glycaniphila
Species of bacterium

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.

Terms of Use • Privacy policy • Desktop

: