Wu PP, Liu JF, Alwahsh SM, Duan X, Li ZW, Zhang W, Xu M. Implications of Bifidobacterium and deoxycholic acid in high-fat diet-associated colitis: Harnessing macrophage plasticity to modulate disease progression. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(20): 118248 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i20.118248]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Min Xu, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of HBP Surgery and Liver Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. minxu.md@gmail.com
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Medicine, Research & Experimental
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Editorial
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Wu PP, Liu JF, Alwahsh SM, Duan X, Li ZW, Zhang W, Xu M. Implications of Bifidobacterium and deoxycholic acid in high-fat diet-associated colitis: Harnessing macrophage plasticity to modulate disease progression. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(20): 118248 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i20.118248]
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2026; 32(20): 118248 Published online May 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i20.118248
Implications of Bifidobacterium and deoxycholic acid in high-fat diet-associated colitis: Harnessing macrophage plasticity to modulate disease progression
Ping-Ping Wu, Jun-Fang Liu, Salamah M Alwahsh, Xin Duan, Zhi-Wei Li, Wei Zhang, Min Xu
Ping-Ping Wu, Jun-Fang Liu, Xin Duan, Zhi-Wei Li, Wei Zhang, Min Xu, Department of HBP Surgery and Liver Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Salamah M Alwahsh, Program of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU), Hebron 198, Palestine
Min Xu, Department of General, Visceral, and Pediatric Surgery, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen 37075, Germany
Min Xu, Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, United States
Co-first authors: Ping-Ping Wu and Jun-Fang Liu.
Author contributions: Wu PP and Liu JF contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Xu M and Zhang W were responsible for study conception and manuscript preparation; Wu PP, Liu JF, Alwahsh SM, Duan X, Li ZW were responsible for manuscript preparation.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflict of interest related to the manuscript.
Corresponding author: Min Xu, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of HBP Surgery and Liver Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. minxu.md@gmail.com
Received: December 28, 2025 Revised: February 3, 2026 Accepted: February 26, 2026 Published online: May 28, 2026 Processing time: 144 Days and 2.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This editorial comments on the manuscript recently published by Yang et al. Their study demonstrates that high-fat diets elevate fecal deoxycholic acid (DCA) levels, which subsequently drive M1 macrophage polarization and exacerbate colonic inflammation. Crucially, they show that Bifidobacterium supplementation can mitigate these pathological effects by reducing DCA concentrations and shifting macrophage polarization toward the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype. Building upon these findings, we further reviewed the sophisticated mechanisms governing macrophage polarization and its dual role in metabolic disorders and inflammatory bowel diseases. We offer a deeper exploration of the mechanistic intricacies and contextual limitations inherent in this interaction. While expounding on the experimental merits of the article, we also identify existing knowledge gaps that warrant further investigation. Ultimately, we emphasize that harnessing the gut microbiome and its metabolites represents a critical next step in developing therapeutic strategies for intestinal inflammatory diseases.
