Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 21, 2026; 32(39): 119800
Published online Oct 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.119800
Published online Oct 21, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.119800
Berberine as a dual-target therapeutic for ulcerative colitis
Dharmendra K Maurya, Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, Maharashtra, India
Prashasti Sharma, Life Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai 400094, Mahara
Author contributions: Maurya DK performed the literature review and wrote the editorial; Sharma P drew the schematic for the editorial.
AI contribution statement: We declare that outline drafting(Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion) and language editing were assisted by the Perplexity AI assistant. Further manual editing was performed by authors to ensure scientific accuracy and integrity. The responses to reviewers’ comments were also language-polished using Perplexity AI. All schemes presented in the article are original, manually created, and not generated using any AI tool.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Dharmendra K Maurya, PhD, Doctor, Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, 3-82-S, A-Block, Modular Laboratory, Mumbai 400085, Maharashtra, India. dkmaurya@barc.gov.in
Received: February 9, 2026
Revised: March 10, 2026
Accepted: May 26, 2026
Published online: October 21, 2026
Processing time: 212 Days and 8.4 Hours
Revised: March 10, 2026
Accepted: May 26, 2026
Published online: October 21, 2026
Processing time: 212 Days and 8.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Berberine ameliorates ulcerative colitis by modulating gut microbiota dysbiosis and inhibiting gasdermin D-mediated pyroptosis. It enriches beneficial taxa that produce short-chain fatty acids, suppresses proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α), and restores epithelial tight junctions (zonula occludens-1, claudin-1). Pre