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Assessment of fecal Akkermansia muciniphila in patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia: a pilot study

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Abstract

Objectives

Osteoporosis is characterized by slow deterioration in bone mass and disruption of its structure, leading to an increased risk of bone fractures. Gut microbiota plays an important role in the transport and absorption of nutrients needed for bone health. Akkermansia muciniphila is one of the gut microbiota members that its beneficial role in prevention of metabolic disorder was suggested. The aim of the current pilot study was the assessment of fecal A. muciniphila in patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia.

Methods

A total of 36 subjects including eight with osteoporosis (three men and five women), eight with osteopenia (two men and six women), and 20 normal controls (six men and 14 women) were selected. Microbial genome was extracted from fresh stool samples. The bacterial load was determined by quantitative real-time PCR using 16S rRNA specific primers.

Results

The participants’ mean age in the osteoporosis, osteopenia and control groups were 61.71, 45 and 45.05 years, respectively. The majority of osteoporosis patients were post-menopause women, while in osteopenia group was pre-menopause. There were significant differences in terms of age, T-score, Z-score, and menopause among groups (P value < 0.05). The presence of A. muciniphila was higher in the healthy group compared to osteopenia group; however, these differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusions

In conclusion, however, there was no statistically significant difference between the study groups; it seems that the load of A. muciniphila may be related to bone health. Further in vivo and in vitro studies are needed to investigate the immunological and biochemical pathways.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the lab members of Microbiology Research Center (MRC) & Department of Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, and Amir al-Momenin Hospital for their assistance in this project.

Funding

This project was funded by the Research Committee of Pasteur Institute of Iran (No. 1058/1061). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiology Research Center (MRC), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

    Shahrbanoo Keshavarz Azizi Raftar, Zahra Hoseini Tavassol, Meysam Amiri, Fatemeh Ashrafian & Seyed Davar Siadat

  2. Department of Mycobacteriology and Pulmonary Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

    Shahrbanoo Keshavarz Azizi Raftar, Fatemeh Ashrafian & Seyed Davar Siadat

  3. Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Zahra Hoseini Tavassol & Hanieh-Sadat Ejtahed

  4. Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hanieh-Sadat Ejtahed & Seyed Davar Siadat

  5. Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran Medical science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Mehrangiz Zangeneh

  6. Department of Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

    Sedigheh Sadeghi & Shohreh Khatami

  7. Tehran university of Medical science, Tehran, Iran

    Arian Kariman

Authors
  1. Shahrbanoo Keshavarz Azizi Raftar
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  2. Zahra Hoseini Tavassol
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  3. Meysam Amiri
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  4. Hanieh-Sadat Ejtahed
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  5. Mehrangiz Zangeneh
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  6. Sedigheh Sadeghi
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  7. Fatemeh Ashrafian
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  9. Shohreh Khatami
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  10. Seyed Davar Siadat
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Contributions

SK performed the experiments, sampling, DNA extraction, and real-time PCR, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper, prepared figures and Tables. MA, ZHT, and AK; sampling, sample preparation and DNA extraction. SS; serum preparation and biochemical test. SDS, SK, and MZ; conceived and designed the experiments, reviewed drafts of the paper. HE, FA and ZHT; reviewed and edited the drafts of paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shohreh Khatami.

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No relevant conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.

Ethics approval

The following information was supplied relating to ethical approvals (i.e., approving body reference numbers (No. 1284) Pasteur Institute of Iran, Biomedical research ethics committee.

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Keshavarz Azizi Raftar, S., Hoseini Tavassol, Z., Amiri, M. et al. Assessment of fecal Akkermansia muciniphila in patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia: a pilot study. J Diabetes Metab Disord 20, 279–284 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40200-021-00742-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40200-021-00742-1

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