Zheng L, Duan SL, Wang K. Research progress concerning the involvement of the intestinal microbiota in the occurrence and development of inflammatory bowel disease. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(42): 113170 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i42.113170]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kai Wang, PhD, Shaanxi Second Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 3 Shangqin Road, Xi’an 710005, Shaanxi Province, China. wangkaiyisheng@163.com
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Infectious Diseases
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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/
Nov 14, 2025 (publication date) through Nov 16, 2025
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World Journal of Gastroenterology
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1007-9327
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Zheng L, Duan SL, Wang K. Research progress concerning the involvement of the intestinal microbiota in the occurrence and development of inflammatory bowel disease. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(42): 113170 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i42.113170]
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 14, 2025; 31(42): 113170 Published online Nov 14, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i42.113170
Research progress concerning the involvement of the intestinal microbiota in the occurrence and development of inflammatory bowel disease
Lie Zheng, Sheng-Lei Duan, Kai Wang
Lie Zheng, Sheng-Lei Duan, Department of Gastroenterology, Shaanxi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xi’an 710003, Shaanxi Province, China
Kai Wang, Shaanxi Second Provincial People’s Hospital, Xi’an 710005, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: Zheng L, Duan SL, and Wang K contributed to the study conception and design, manuscript writing and drafting, the literature search, and provided approval of the final version to be published.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82574996; Shaanxi Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Innovation Talent Plan Project, No. TZKN-CXRC-16; Project of Shaanxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. SZY-KJCYC-2025-JC-010; Shaanxi Province Key Research and Development Plan Project-Social Development Field, No. 2025SF-YBXM-498; the “Nursery Cultivation Plan” Project of Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine and Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 2025-04; and the Fifth Batch of Outstanding Clinical Talents in Traditional Chinese Medicine Project of Shaanxi Province.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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: Kai Wang, PhD, Shaanxi Second Provincial People’s Hospital, No. 3 Shangqin Road, Xi’an 710005, Shaanxi Province, China. wangkaiyisheng@163.com
Received: August 18, 2025 Revised: September 11, 2025 Accepted: October 20, 2025 Published online: November 14, 2025 Processing time: 88 Days and 5.2 Hours
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic disorder characterized by intestinal inflammation and mucosal damage, includes mainly Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. However, the cause of its onset remains unclear. The pathogenesis of IBD is closely related to host genetic susceptibility, disorders of the intestinal flora, damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier, and abnormal intestinal mucosal immunity. On the basis of the progress in research on the structure of the intestinal microbiota involved in IBD, the influence of genetics on the intestinal barrier and intestinal microbiota; the metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics of the intestinal microbiota involved in IBD; and treatments such as probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation are important for the future treatment of IBD and the development of drugs for effective treatment.
Core Tip: The etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is complex and involves multiple factors working together, including genetic, environmental, dietary, immune and neurological factors. These factors are interrelated through a complex gut microbiome composed of bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses and protozoa. Gut microbiota play a core role in IBD, such as genetic and serum markers related to host-gut microbiota interactions, alterations in gut microbiota in first-degree relatives, and the dynamic recovery of gut microbiota that accompanies the remission of inflammation. In fact, the rising incidence of IBD worldwide is closely related to changes in a series of environmental factors that typically affect gut microbiota. In recent years, advancements in multi-omics technologies such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metabolomics, as well as their application in mouse models, human, fungal and bacterial cells, have further deepened our understanding of the role of gut microbiota in IBD.
