Figure 6.

Administration of Akkermansia muciniphila improved gut barrier and ameliorated severe colitis in LCD-fed mice. (a) Experimental design. After 2 weeks of LCD feeding, mice were treated daily with oral gavage of A. muciniphila (A.K.) or PBS for 3 weeks more. DSS treatment was started 2 weeks after A.K. administration began. (b) H&E- and PAS-stained sections of colon and quantification of crypt depth and goblet cells per crypt in distal and middle colon from LCD- and LCD+A.K.-fed mice (n = 3/group). (c) Body weight and (d) DAI scores were recorded daily during DSS treatment (n = 5/group). (e) Colon lengths were measured following sacrifice on day 8 (n = 5/group). (f) Pathologic score and (g) representative H&E-stained images of colon sections (n = 5/group). Data are representative of two independent experiments and are mean ± SEM. Statistical analyses were conducted using Student’s t-test and one- or two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post-hoc test. ^##P < .01. Statistical comparisons between LCD-DSS vs. LCD+A.K.-DSS are represented as *P < .05; **P < .01.