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

BACKGROUND: Non-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. 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. RESULTS: Mice 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 lacks endogenous A. muciniphila, voluntary feeding with human A. muciniphila similarly led to rapid and persistent colonization. Colonization was similar in female and male mice. Also, in conventionally housed mice there was unstable colonization of the intestinal tract with endogenous A. muciniphila between 3 and 4 weeks of age, which resulted in replacement of this strain with human A. muciniphila after oral delivery. CONCLUSIONS: These findings establish a new and non-invasive approach for colonizing the intestinal tract with commensal microbes and provides information on the early life colonization of the gut microbiota with A. muciniphila.