Identification of herbal drug extracts that promote growth of Akkermansia muciniphila in high-fat diet fed mice

Disruption of the gut microbiota causes metabolic dysfunction, and intervention in the gut microbiota has the potential to improve host glucose metabolism. Akkermanisa muciniphila is an intestinal bacterium involved in anti-obesity and insulin resistance. Developing interventions to increase A. muciniphla would be useful for new treatment strategies. In this study, we screened herbal drug extracts that promoted the growth of A. muciniphila. Among the 123 herbal drugs, five herbal drug extracts significantly increased A. muciniphila DNA levels compared with that in controls. In particular, Dioscoreae rhizoma extract increased the growth of A. muciniphila in the intestines of mice fed a high-fat diet and improved obesity. It significantly reduced body weight gain, improved glucose tolerance even when the administration was initiated after the induction of dietary obesity. These results suggest that herbal drug extracts, such as Dioscoreae rhizome, that increase A. muciniphila could be a new therapeutic strategy for metabolic syndrome.