Bacterial constipation: Mucin-degrading intestinal commensal bacteria cause constipation - PubMed
3 days ago
- #bacterial-constipation
- #mucin-degradation
- #sulfatase-activity
- Two mucin-degrading gut bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, cooperatively induce constipation.
- Increased levels of these bacteria were found in constipated patients with Parkinson's disease and chronic idiopathic constipation.
- Gnotobiotic mice co-colonized with both bacteria developed constipation, while those colonized with only one did not.
- Fecal mucins, but not gastric mucins, carry terminal sulfates, which are catabolized by bacterial sulfatases.
- An anaerobic sulfatase-maturating enzyme (anSME)-deficient B. thetaiotaomicron strain did not cause constipation in co-colonized mice.
- The cooperative degradation of colonic mucins by these bacteria reduces lubrication and induces fecal dehydration, leading to constipation.
- Targeting microbial sulfatase activity may be a promising therapeutic approach for bacterial constipation.