What Is Akkermansia — A Keystone Microbe in Your Gut (An Interview with Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe)

• The composition of your gut microbiome may have an encompassing influence on your health, including metabolic, neurological, and digestive function
• The diversity of your microbiome varies depending on your diet, age, location, and other factors. Age-related loss of diversity may be a meaningful contributor to age-related changes in function and the onset of chronic conditions
• In conventional antibiotic treatment, roughly 20% to 30% of Clostridium difficile cases recur after initial therapy, and severe or refractory cases carry meaningful mortality risk. Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) has been reported in some trials to have cure rates around 80% to 90%
• Akkermansia muciniphila is among the gut bacteria most studied as a key contributor to microbiome health
• Reduced integrity of the mucin layer has been associated with what researchers describe as leaky gut syndrome. Akkermansia muciniphila is among the strains most closely studied for its interaction with the mucin layer