Overview
- Nagoya University researchers report that Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Akkermansia muciniphila sequentially degrade colonic mucin, drying stool and impairing passage.
- B. thetaiotaomicron removes protective sulfate groups from mucin, enabling A. muciniphila to consume the exposed mucus layer.
- Genetically disabling sulfatase activation in B. thetaiotaomicron preserved mucin and prevented constipation in germ-free mice co-colonized with A. muciniphila.
- The findings, published in Gut Microbes, help explain why standard laxatives and motility drugs often fail when mucus loss—not slow transit—is the primary problem.
- Parkinson’s disease patients showed higher levels of these mucus-degrading bacteria, suggesting a microbial contribution to their long-standing, treatment-resistant constipation and pointing to bacterial sulfatase as a potential drug target that requires human trials.