Extracellular vesicles and pasteurized cells derived from Akkermansia muciniphila protect against high-fat induced obesity in mice

Fatemeh Ashrafian,Morteza Masoumi,Arefeh Shahryari,Seyed Davar Siadat,Mir Davood Omrani,Farzam Vaziri,Hamid Reza Moradi,Shohreh Khatami,Andrea Masotti,Shahrbanoo Keshavarz Azizi Raftar,Arezou Lari,Sara Abdollahiyan,Mehdi Davari

doi:10.1186/s12934-021-01709-w

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral studies have shown that probiotics have beneficial effects on weight control and metabolic health. In addition to probiotics, recent studies have investigated the effects of paraprobiotics and postbiotics. Therefore, we evaluated the preventive effects of live and pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila MucT (A. muciniphila) and its extracellular vesicles (EVs) on HFD-induced obesity.ResultsThe results showed that body weight, metabolic tissues weight, food consumption, and plasma metabolic parameters were increased in the HFD group, whereas A. muciniphila preventive treatments inhibited these HFD. The effects of pasteurized A. muciniphila and its extracellular vesicles were more noticeable than its active form. The HFD led to an increase in the colonic, adipose tissue, and liver inflammations and increased the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism and homeostasis. Nevertheless, these effects were inhibited in mice that were administered A. muciniphila and its EVs. The assessment of the gut microbiota revealed significant differences in the microbiota composition after feeding with HFD. However, all treatments restored the alterations in some bacterial genera and closely resemble the control group. Also, the correlation analysis indicated that some gut microbiota might be associated with obesity-related indices.ConclusionsPasteurized A. muciniphila and its EVs, as paraprobiotic and postbiotic agents, were found to play a key role in the regulation of metabolic functions to prevent obesity, probably by affecting the gut-adipose-liver axis.Graphical

Highlights

Several studies have shown that probiotics have beneficial effects on weight control and metabolic health
A. muciniphila prevented increased food intake and plasma metabolic parameters in high-fat diet (HFD)‐fed mice To assess the impact of live and pasteurized A. muciniphila and its extracellular vesicles (EVs) on preventing obesity, mice were fed an HFD for five weeks without or along with treatment
All treatments prevented HFD-induced body weight gain, while pasteurized form significantly had a better effect than live form (Fig. 1b)

Summary

Introduction

Several studies have shown that probiotics have beneficial effects on weight control and metabolic health. Multiple studies have revealed that a high-fat diet (HFD) is correlated with the gut microbiota disturbances, intestinal barrier permeability, onset of intestinal, adipose, and hepatic inflammations, changes in lipid metabolism, and obesity-induced metabolic disorders [8, 9]. An increase in plasma LPS levels affects multiple organs and induces metabolic changes and systemic inflammation. These changes are associated with a significant reduction in the beneficial bacterial population and an increase in pathogenic bacteria in the gut [7]. The central mechanism and roles of inter-organ communication in the pathogenesis of obesity, have not been completely clarified

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion