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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2026; 32(5): 115439
Published online Feb 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.115439
Published online Feb 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.115439
Growth differentiation factor 15 - a new molecular target in inflammatory bowel disease: Progress and challenges
Jia Yang, Ya-Ting Pan, Department of Oncology, Longhua Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Hong-Zhu Wen, Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Author contributions: Wen HZ designed the editorial and revised the manuscript; Yang J wrote the draft; Pan YT prepared the figure and contributed to the revision of the manuscript; all authors contributed to the important intellectual content of the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82274285.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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: Hong-Zhu Wen, Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 725 Wanping South Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200032, China. ellawhz@sina.com
Received: October 17, 2025
Revised: November 17, 2025
Accepted: December 15, 2025
Published online: February 7, 2026
Processing time: 104 Days and 2.8 Hours
Revised: November 17, 2025
Accepted: December 15, 2025
Published online: February 7, 2026
Processing time: 104 Days and 2.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The study by Ruiz-Malagón et al represents an important step toward elucidating the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, suggesting that growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) may contribute to disease development. GDF15 functions as a context-dependent mediator with both protective and pathogenic effects, and clarifying this duality remains a key objective for translational research. Current findings, derived largely from small observational cohorts, should be interpreted with caution and require validation in larger, independent populations. Ultimately, well-designed randomized controlled trials will be essential to establish more definitive evidence.