Akkermansia Muciniphila Benefits: Weight Loss, Leaky Gut, Diabetes..And More..
Akkermansia Reviews
The gut mucus layer forms a natural defense barrier, and its integrity is vital for maintaining our intestinal health . Akkermansia muciniphila, (only recently discovered in 2004) unlike many of the known probiotic species, is a unique commensal (works and lives in conjunction with other microbes) microbe inhabiting the mucus layer, where it can interact closely with our intestinal epithelial cells and immune cells.
Akkermansia muciniphila is known to utilize mucins (key components of mucus) as nutrient and energy sources and produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
It is believed that through reinforcing gut barrier function, Akkermansia muciniphila supports various bodily functions, such as energy, lipid, and glucose metabolism as well as immune responses.
Akkermansia is a keystone species that inhabits your intestinal mucus layer and contributes to the maintenance of a healthy gut barrier.
So what does all that medico-babble mean? Think of it this way. Say you had a tiled wall in your bathroom or kitchen. The material which holds the tiles together and in place is grout. Mucin in your intestinal tract is like grout. It holds the cells which line and protect your intestines together, tightly…as it should.
Akkermansia muciniphila supports the following bodily functions:
Energy metabolism: Akkermansia muciniphila utilizes mucins as a nutrient and energy source, contributing to energy metabolism in the body.
Lipid metabolism: Akkermansia muciniphila is involved in lipid metabolism, which is important for maintaining a healthy body composition and reducing body fat mass.
Glucose metabolism: Akkermansia muciniphila plays a role in glucose metabolism, which is crucial for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity. One of the main functions here is it stimulates the release of GLP-1 (glucagon-like-protein 1). This molecule is crucial both to glucose metabolism as it stimulates insulin release, but it also tells your brain you’ve had enough to eat, resulting in you eat less. So helps in weight management. And Akkermansia is the only gut microbe which does this.
Immune responses: Akkermansia muciniphila supports immune homeostasis by interacting closely with immune cells in the gut. It also activates anti-inflammatory pathways, leading to a reduction in inflammatory burden.
Gut barrier function: As mentioned above, Akkermansia muciniphila helps maintain the integrity of the gut barrier by enhancing mucin production and increasing the expression of tight-junction proteins. This contributes to gut balance and prevents the transport of harmful substances through the gut wall resulting in ‘leaky gut syndrome’.
A leaky gut wall can also have deeper ramifications, resulting in obesity, metabolic syndrome (insulin dysfunction and diabetes)….even neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s.
So for this reason it’s being referred to as a ‘keystone’ strain in that without it or with low levels, the intestines just don’t perform as well, resulting in many other health problems.
How Do I Supplement Akkermansia?
Pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila has been found to be more effective than the live bacterium in improving metabolic health-related parameters in a human clinical trial.
Supplementation of pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce body weight and plasma lipids, and decrease metabolic toxemia in overweight or obese individuals.
The findings of the study on Akkermansia muciniphila supplementation were as follows:
The supplementation of pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila significantly improved insulin sensitivity and usage and plasma total cholesterol levels compared to the placebo group.
Pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila supplementation resulted in a decrease in body weight, hip circumference, and waist circumference compared to the placebo group.
Pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila supplementation decreased plasma LPS levels (metabolic endotoxemia) by an average of 117% compared to the placebo group.
Both live and pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila supplementation for three months were safe and well-tolerated.
These findings suggest that pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila supplementation can improve metabolic health by enhancing insulin sensitivity, reducing cholesterol levels, promoting weight loss, and reducing metabolic endotoxemia.
Citations:
Derrien M et al. Akkermansia muciniphila gen. nov., sp. nov., a human intestinal mucin-degrading bacterium. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2004;54(Pt 5):1469-1476.
Roshanravan N et al. A comprehensive systematic review of the effectiveness of Akkermansia muciniphila, a member of the gut microbiome, for the management of obesity and associated metabolic disorders. Arch Physiol Biochem. 2023;129(3):741-751
Everard A et al. Cross-talk between Akkermansia muciniphila and intestinal epithelium controls diet-induced obesity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110(22):9066-9071.
Depommier C et al. Supplementation with Akkermansia muciniphila in overweight and obese human volunteers: a proof-of-concept exploratory study. Nat Med. 2019;25(7):1096-1103.
Zhu L et al. Berberine treatment increases Akkermansia in the gut and improves high-fat diet-induced atherosclerosis in Apoe-/- mice. Atherosclerosis. 2018;268:117-126.
Jeong HW et al. Green tea encourages growth of Akkermansia muciniphila. J Med Food. 2020;23(8):841-851.
Hibberd AA et al. Probiotic or symbiotic alters the gut microbiota and metabolism in a randomized controlled trial of weight management in overweight adults. Benef Microbes. 2018:1-16.
Munukka E et al. Six-Week endurance exercise alters gut metagenome that is not reflected in systemic metabolism in over-weight women. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:2323.
Until Next Time….
Stay Healthy…Remember…You Have An Immune System…Feed It…Don’t Suppress It With Drugs…
Warmly,
Dr. Deb