Akkermansia muciniphila ameliorate DSS-induced colitis via regulating gut microbiota and amino acids metabolism in rats

Akkermansia muciniphila (Akk) is an intestinal symbiont that colonizing in the mucosal layer and is considered as a promising probiotics, which is known to play an important role in improving the host metabolic functions and immune responses . Akk could play a local role by strengthening the gut barrier, which may be mainly related to the stimulation of mucus production through mucin degradation, thus thickening the mucus layer . Moreover, it is reported that Akk may maintain the balance of host intestinal microbial by converting mucin into beneficial by-products. Compared to that in healthy people, the abundance of Akk was significantly reduced in the intestinal mucosa of IBD patients. Furthermore, Akk could alleviate mucosal inflammation either by microbe-host interactions that protect the gut epithelial barrier function and downregulate the levels of related inflammatory cytokines or by improving the microbial community, indicating that Akk may be a potential probiotic agent for ameliorating colitis. However, it is not completely clear whether the composition and function of gut microbiota changes during Akk treatment affect the metabolism of amino acid, thus affecting the treatment of this disease. In the treatment of UC, the relationship among Akk, gut microbiota and amino acid metabolism remains to be further studied. Thus, we speculated that the regulation of gut microbiota and the amino acid metabolism may be greatly related to the treatment of colitis with Akk.