REVIEW   

Minerva Endocrinology 2022 June;47(2):242-52

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-6507.22.03752-6

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Akkermansia muciniphila as a novel powerful bacterial player in the treatment of metabolic disorders

Nazarii KOBYLIAK ^{1, 2} ✉, Tetyana FALALYEYEVA ^{2, 3}, Yevheniia KYRIACHENKO ³, Yuliya TSEYSLYER ³, Oleksandr KOVALCHUK ^{3, 4}, Olena HADILIIA ³, Majid ESLAMI ⁵, Bahman YOUSEFI ⁶, Ludovico ABENAVOLI ⁷, Sharmila FAGOONEE ⁸, Rinaldo PELLICANO ⁹

¹ Department of Endocrinology, Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine; ² Medical Laboratory, CSD Health Care, Kyiv, Ukraine; ³ Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine; ⁴ Department of Human Anatomy, Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine; ⁵ Cancer Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran; ⁶ Department of Immunology, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran; ⁷ Department of Health Sciences, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, Italy; ⁸ Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging (CNR), Molecular Biotechnology Center, Turin, Italy; ⁹ Unit of Gastroenterology, Molinette-S. Giovanni Antica Sede Hospital, Turin, Italy

Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) is a mucin-degrading bacterium that commonly lives in the intestinal mucus layer. It is normally detected in human faecal specimens and is one of the few bacteria potentially associated to obesity development. In this narrative review, possible mechanisms that support how A. muciniphila is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity and metabolic-associated disease are described with the evaluation of its role as an intermediary or independent agent whose manipulation could be useful in the management of metabolic disorders. The ampleness of A. muciniphila is notably diminished in obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cardiometabolic diseases and low-grade inflammation. Furthermore, an inverse relationship between A. muciniphila, body weight and insulin sensitivity has been observed in both humans and animals. Antidiabetic drugs, gastric bypass surgery, prebiotics and biologically active compounds, such as polyphenols or saponins, have been shown to be associated with A. muciniphila relative abundance and thus could have favourable effects on metabolic disorders. Furthermore, A. muciniphila supplementation alone has been correlated with weight reduction and improvement of metabolic disorders, including fat mass gain, adipose tissue inflammation, metabolic endotoxaemia, and insulin resistance. Nevertheless, since the primary beneficial impacts of this bacterium have been predominantly investigated in various preclinical models, these results need to be confirmed in randomized clinical trials.

KEY WORDS: Akkermansia muciniphila; Obesity; Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Probiotics; Metabolic syndrome