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Microbiome

A mucus colonizer manages host metabolism

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 11, pages 430–431 (2013)Cite this article

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Mice fed a high-fat diet have an altered gut microbiota, including reduced numbers of A. muciniphila and higher blood concentrations of lipopolysaccharide. This condition of metabolic endotoxaemia has been implicated in low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance. To test whether the therapeutic administration of A. muciniphila could reverse these changes, mice on a high-fat diet received live or heat-killed bacteria orally for 4 weeks. Those administered live bacteria exhibited low levels of blood lipopolysaccharide, body fat and plasma glucose, similar to levels in non-obese mice receiving a control diet; by contrast, heat-killed bacteria had no therapeutic effect. Furthermore, treatment with live A. muciniphila stimulated the expression of genes involved in adipocyte differentiation, lipogenesis and lipid oxidation in visceral fat depots, indicating improved adipose tissue metabolism. Two mechanisms were proposed to link A. muciniphila in the intestine with favourable metabolic changes in the whole body: restoration of the intestinal barrier, including the mucus layer and the underlying epithelium that have been damaged by the high-fat diet, and modulation of the intestinal endocannabinoid system, which consists of lipid mediators that control barrier function, inflammation and glucose homeostasis. Indeed, in mice fed a high-fat diet, A. muciniphila restored the mucus layer back to its normal thickness and induced the production of the lipid mediators 2-arachidonoylglycerol, 2-palmitoylglycerol and 2-oleoylglycerol.

A. muciniphila can reverse the diet-induced pathological changes

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References

  1. Everard, A. Cross-talk between Akkermansia muciniphila and intestinal epithelium controls diet-induced obesity. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 13 May 2013 (10.1073/pnas.1219451110)

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  1. Ursula Hofer
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Sommer, F. & Bäckhed, F. The gut microbiota — masters of host development and physiology. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 11, 227–238 (2013)

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Hofer, U. A mucus colonizer manages host metabolism. Nat Rev Microbiol 11, 430–431 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3051

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