A. muciniphila is a mucus colonizer and it uses mucin as its sole carbon and nitrogen source, but there is conflicting evidence of the beneficial nature of Akkermansia in Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), as several studies found Akkermansia to be decreased or unaltered in IBD, while there is evidence it is increased in mice with colitis (Zhai et al., 2019). This evidence concerns the gene MUC5AC and irritable bowel syndrome.