Rapid early life colonization of the intestinal tract by Akkermansia muciniphila after voluntary feeding

BackgroundNon-invasive methods to colonize intact gut microbiota populations with specific bacterial species are useful for experimental studies that advance our understanding of this commensal microbial population in health and disease. Within the gut microbiota, the anaerobic muciniphile Akkermansia muciniphila has many established health benefits. We report the development of a new voluntary feeding protocol for non-invasive administration of bacteria into the intestine and use it to characterize the early life colonization of the intestinal tract by A. muciniphila. ResultsMice were voluntarily fed a human strain of A. muciniphila (MucT/BAA-835) in the week after weaning, whereupon they consistently and rapidly ingested the bacterium. At this developmental period, conventionally housed mice were rapidly colonized by human A. muciniphila that persisted until at least 8 weeks of age. In mice that contained a dysbiotic gut microbiota that lack endogenous A. muciniphila, voluntary feeding with human A. muciniphila similarly led to rapid and stable colonization. Colonization was similar in female and male mice. Also, in conventionally housed mice there was incomplete colonization of the intestinal tract with endogenous A. muciniphila between 3 - 4 weeks of age, which enabled its competitive exclusion by human A. muciniphila that was orally delivered. ConclusionsThese findings establish a new and non-invasive approach for colonizing the intestinal tract with commensal microbes that provides information on the early life colonization of the gut microbiota with A. muciniphila.