Danggui-Baishao herb pair protects against dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis by modulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway

doi:10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.113024

Advanced Search

BPG is committed to discovery and dissemination of knowledge

Home / Archive / Volume 32, Issue 5

This Article

Academic Content and Language Evaluation of This Article

CrossCheck and Google Search of This Article

Academic Rules and Norms of This Article

Supplementary Materials of This Article

Citation of this article

Corresponding Author of This Article

Research Domain of This Article

Article-Type of This Article

Open-Access Policy of This Article

Times Cited Counts in Google of This Article

Number of Hits and Downloads for This Article

Total Article Views (16)

All Articles published online

The chart showing PDF series, HTML series, Figures (1-10) series.

Item

Count

PDF

HTML

Figures (1-10)

Sum=3

Featured Article

The chart showing Browse series, Download series.

Item

Count

Browse

Download

Sum=21

Publishing Process of This Article

Item

Count

Browse

Download

Sum=6

Feb 7, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 29, 2026

Times Cited of This Article

Times Cited (0)

Journal Information of This Article

Publication Name

World Journal of Gastroenterology

ISSN

1007-9327

Publisher of This Article

Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Basic Study

World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2026; 32(5): 113024
Published online Feb 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.113024

Danggui-Baishao herb pair protects against dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis by modulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Tian Xu, Wei-Xin Hou, Sun-Ting Yang, Yu-Pei Shao, Jing Wang, Tao-Tao Han, Jing-Nan Li

Tian Xu, Wei-Xin Hou, Sun-Ting Yang, Yu-Pei Shao, Jing Wang, Tao-Tao Han, Jing-Nan Li, Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, China

Co-corresponding authors: Tao-Tao Han and Jing-Nan Li.

Author contributions: Xu T performed the research and wrote the original draft; Hou WX and Yang ST acquired and analyzed the data; Shao YP and Wang J developed methodology; Xu T, Han TT, and Li JN acquired funding; Han TT and Li JN designed the research study, participated in review and editing, and contributed equally to this article as co-corresponding authors; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82405050, No. 82270567, and No. 82100564; and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China, No. 3332024017.

Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Ethics Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, No. XHDW-2024-37-1.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.

Data sharing statement: All data in the research will be made available on request.

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: Jing-Nan Li, Department of Gastroenterology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, No. 1 Shuaifuyuan, Wangfujing, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100730, China. jnli2020@126.com

Received: August 18, 2025
Revised: October 15, 2025
Accepted: December 8, 2025
Published online: February 7, 2026
Processing time: 164 Days and 20.1 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The Danggui-Baishao herb pair is the foundation of a traditional Chinese medicine formula known as Shaoyao decoction, which is widely used in the treatment of colitis.

AIM

To uncover the mechanisms underlying the anti-colitis effects of the Danggui-Baishao herb pair.

METHODS

The chemical composition of the herb pair was characterized by high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry analysis. A mouse model of colitis was induced by administering 2.5% dextran sulfate sodium. The therapeutic effects of the herb pair were evaluated based on body weight changes, colon length, histopathological, intestinal inflammation, and barrier function. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, RNA sequencing, metabolomics, 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomics, and the β-catenin inhibitor ICG-001 were utilized. Furthermore, molecular docking and dextran sulfate sodium-treated HCT 116 cells were conducted to explore the protective mechanisms of benzoylpaeoniflorin.

RESULTS

The herb pair improved body weight, colon length, intestinal inflammation, and barrier function. Additionally, the herb pair upregulated the expression of intestinal stem cells marker leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 and proliferation-related proteins. RNA sequencing analysis showed that the herb pair activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Metabolomic analysis revealed changes in bile acids composition. Through 16S rRNA and metagenomic sequencing, it was observed that the herb pair modulated the gut microbiota, with an enrichment of probiotics and a depletion of pathogenic bacteria. Following intraperitoneal injection of antagonist ICG-001, the therapeutic efficacy was diminished. Molecular docking showed that benzoylpaeoniflorin can bind to β-catenin. Furthermore, benzoylpaeoniflorin can activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and the therapeutic efficacy was also diminished by the ICG-001 in vitro.

CONCLUSION

The herb pair effectively reduces colonic inflammation and maintains the integrity of the intestinal barrier. Moreover, the anti-colitis efficacy of the herb pair is closely associated with activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Keywords: Danggui-Baishao herb pair; Benzoylpaeoniflorin; Ulcerative colitis; Wnt/β-catenin pathway; Intestinal barrier; Gut microbiota; Bile acids

Core Tip: The Danggui-Baishao herb pair has shown definite anti-colitis effects in traditional Chinese medicine. By detecting the active ingredients of the herb pair and using transcriptome sequencing for mechanism prediction, our results show that the herb pair protects against colitis by activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in vivo, yet this effect is diminished by the β-catenin antagonist ICG-001. Through metabolomics, 16S rRNA, and metagenomic further revealed that the herb pair regulates bile acids metabolism and gut microbiota composition. Finally, molecular docking revealed that benzoylpaeoniflorin has a structural basis for binding to β-catenin. Benzoylpaeoniflorin can activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in vitro and diminished by the ICG-001. This study provides experimental evidence for research on anti-colitis drugs.