The potential of Akkermansia muciniphila in inflammatory bowel disease

Akkermansia muciniphila is a next-generation probiotic with significant application prospects. The role of A. muciniphila in metabolic diseases and tumor immunotherapy has been widely recognized. Recent clinical trials further confirmed its safety and therapeutic value in human metabolic diseases. A. muciniphila also shows potential in the treatment of intestinal inflammatory diseases, especially for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The improvement in the efficacy of washed microbiota transplantation (WMT) in treating IBD is closely related to the increase in the abundance of A. muciniphila in patients' gut. However, there is still controversy regarding the pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory effect of A. muciniphila on IBD. Currently, several studies targeting the correlation between A. muciniphila and IBD have demonstrated opposite conclusions. Similarly, the interventional studies exploring causality between them also come to conflicting results. This article therefore aims to review the relationship between A. muciniphila and IBD, the effect of intervention of A. muciniphila on IBD, and the possible reasons for the contradictory role of A. muciniphila in the treatment of IBD. KEY POINTS: The effect of A. muciniphila on inflammatory bowel disease is controversy. A. muciniphila shows anti-inflammatory potential in IBD. The colitogenicity of A. muciniphila is context dependent.