Akkermansia probiotic

[bonnierose]

I recently read that akkermansia has been linked to advanced prostate cancer. It is also now being touted as the latest thing for diabetes. As such, I've been giving it to my husband, who has a small amount of prostate cancer, for less than a month. I will immediately discontinue it, but wonder if anyone has any thoughts. PS. I just joined this group today, and don't know how to do any searches yet. Thank you for any thoughts.

[NotAlwaysSunshine]

Never heard of that one. We are only using what our MO team advises.

[Tall_Allen]

You are mistaking association for causation, a common error. Abiraterone (which is prescribed for advanced prostate cancer) is associated with an increase in Akkermansia, but there is no evidence that the bacteria causes prostate cancer.

[bonnierose in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thank you so much! Still, we'll discontinue using it.

[Tall_Allen in reply to bonnierose]

Probably wise. None of these supplements are tested for safety and efficacy. I just read this article about a Congressman's wife dying after ingesting what she thought was a safe supplement:

nbcnews.com/health/health-n...

My own rule with regard to supplements is to not put anything in my body that I'm not sure of. Since they are not tested for purity or safety, I don't take any that one of my trusted doctor has not recommended.

[bonnierose]

Just as an FYI, here is the study I found: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

[hansjd]

It's my understanding that contrary to what you are thinking, Akkermansia is actually beneficial for APC. It you search the posts on this forum you will find several about this.

[Medline]

Interestingly, Akkermansia is an acetate-producing bacterium, and Abiraterone is an acetate-containing drug. Acetate is a short-chain fatty acid that has many health benefits, but prostate cancer cells can use it as bioenergetic fuel.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...