It has been a decade since a team of scientists led by Patrice Cani, a researcher at the Louvain Drug Research Institute of the University of Louvain, and Willem de Vos, professor at the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands, have been focusing their research on a bacterium called Akkermansia muciniphila, one of the most common bacteria, accounting for one to five percent of the gut microbiota.
The bacteria’s function is so important, scientists say, that it has been maintained through millions of years of evolution to initiate similar functions in both mice and humans.
The researchers have demonstrated that Akkermansia muciniphila may have a crucial role in the fight against obesity and type 2 diabetes after noticing that levels of this bacterium registered lower in obese rodents. Scientists then administered an Akkermansia-based treatment to mice and noticed that several metabolic disorders were reversed
Similar research at Oregon State has confirmed the results. The Oregon research has also highlighted the importance of proper bacterial functions in the stomach, emphasizing the importance of Akkermansia muciniphila in helping to regulate glucose metabolism. The bacteria’s function is so important, scientists say, that it has been maintained through millions of years of evolution to initiate similar functions in both mice and humans.
“We’re discovering that in biology there are multiple connections and communications, what we call cross-talk, that are very important in ways we’re just beginning to understand,” Dr. Natalia Shulzhenko, one of the authors and an assistant professor in the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine said.
“It’s being made clear by a number of studies that our immune system, in particular, is closely linked to other metabolic functions in ways we never realized. This is still unconventional thinking, and it’s being described as a new field called immunometabolism. Through the process of evolution, mammals, including humans, have developed functional systems that communicate with each other, and microbes are an essential part of that process.”
During their research, Cani said that he and his team accidentally discovered that pasteurization impacts Akkermansia positively: “Unexpectedly, we discovered that pasteurization of A. muciniphila enhanced its capacity to reduce fat mass development, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia in mice.” Pasteurization makes the bacterium stable and easier to administer, practically doubling its effectiveness, preventing the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes in mice.
