Schildkraut T, Srinivasan AR, Nguyen A, Lai M, Vasudevan A. Complementary medicines and ginseng for inflammatory bowel disease-rooted in science, but will it bear fruit? World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(27): 108524 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i27.108524]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Abhinav Vasudevan, PhD, Associate Professor, FRACP, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Eastern Health, 8 Arnold Street, Melbourne 3128, Victoria, Australia. abhinav.vasudevan@monash.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2025; 31(27): 108524 Published online Jul 21, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i27.108524
Complementary medicines and ginseng for inflammatory bowel disease-rooted in science, but will it bear fruit?
Tamar Schildkraut, Ashish R Srinivasan, Andrew Nguyen, Mark Lai, Abhinav Vasudevan
Tamar Schildkraut, Ashish R Srinivasan, Andrew Nguyen, Mark Lai, Abhinav Vasudevan, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Eastern Health, Melbourne 3128, Victoria, Australia
Ashish R Srinivasan, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3084, Victoria, Australia
Ashish R Srinivasan, Abhinav Vasudevan, Eastern Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne 3128, Victoria, Australia
Author contributions: Schildkraut T drafted the paper; Srinivasan AR and Vasudevan A provided supervision; Schildkraut T, Nguyen A, and Lai M contributed to review of the literature; Vasudevan A conceptualized, outlined, and coordinated the writing of the paper. All authors contributed to the edited and revised the manuscript and approved the final version to publish.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Vasudevan reports personal fees from Ferring, Abbvie, and Pfizer, outside the submitted work.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Abhinav Vasudevan, PhD, Associate Professor, FRACP, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Eastern Health, 8 Arnold Street, Melbourne 3128, Victoria, Australia. abhinav.vasudevan@monash.edu
Received: April 17, 2025 Revised: May 28, 2025 Accepted: July 3, 2025 Published online: July 21, 2025 Processing time: 96 Days and 6.5 Hours
Abstract
This editorial is based on the network pharmacology and in vivo study by Qin et al, which investigated the potential therapeutic mechanisms of Panax ginseng (P. ginseng) in ulcerative colitis. The key findings from the study included the identification of the targets of P. ginseng and ulcerative colitis, elucidation of mechanistic pathways, and in vivo validation of the pharmacological activity and therapeutic effect of panaxadiol, a key active component of P. ginseng. This editorial provides additional context regarding the evidence supporting the use of ginseng and other commonly used complementary therapies that clinicians may encounter. We also aim to highlight potential similarities between the mechanisms of popular complementary and conventional medical therapies.
Core Tip: Ginseng and other complementary and alternative therapies are frequently used in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. While preclinical studies and in vivo models demonstrate the therapeutic potential of several traditional and herbal remedies, quality clinical trials are scarce. Clinicians should be aware of the current evidence base, including proposed mechanisms of action and available clinical data. This editorial provides a focused overview to support informed, evidence-based discussions with patients.
