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 Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2026; 18(12): 123706
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123706
Published online Dec 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123706
Gut microbiota derived butyrate suppresses colorectal cancer via phosphoinositide three kinase and protein kinase B signaling
Yu Ge, Long Qian, Wen Jiang, Lei Zheng, Jin Wang, Mao-Kun Feng, Yi-Mei Zhu, Meng-Jun Wang, Sha-Sha Sun, Jing Rui, Department of General Surgery, Wuhu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Anhui College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhu 241000, Anhui Province, China
Mao-Qi Xu, Department of General Surgery, Anhui Wannan Rehabilitation Hospital, Fifth People’s Hospital of Wuhu, Wuhu 241000, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Ge Y conceived and designed the study, developed the methodology, performed the experiments, validated the results, conducted the formal and statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript; Qian L, Jiang W, and Zheng L contributed to the study design and methodology and critically revised the manuscript; Wang J, Feng MK, and Zhu YM contributed to conceptualization, data curation, resources, supervision, and revision of the manuscript; Wang MJ and Sun SS performed the experiments and validated the results; Rui J and Xu MQ contributed to conceptualization, resources, project administration, supervision, funding acquisition, and critical revision of the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: ChatGPT (GPT-5.6, OpenAI) was used solely to assist with English-language polishing, grammatical correction, formatting consistency, and limited structural refinement during manuscript preparation. The AI tool was not used to design the study, generate or analyse research data, perform statistical analyses, interpret the results, formulate the discussion or conclusions, select or verify references, or make scientific decisions. The extent of AI involvement was limited to providing language- and presentation-related suggestions based on text supplied by the authors. All AI-assisted content was manually reviewed, verified, and revised by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, scientific integrity, and final content of the manuscript in accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the Committee on Publication Ethics.
Supported by the Natural Science Research Project of Higher Education Institutions of Anhui Province, China, No. 2023AH053197; and the Key Project of the Wuhu Municipal Health Commission, China, No. WHWJ2023y044.
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 Wuhu Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, approval No. YW-2025-091.
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: No other data available.
Corresponding author: Mao-Qi Xu, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of General Surgery, Anhui Wannan Rehabilitation Hospital, Fifth People’s Hospital of Wuhu, No. 3 Zheshan East Road, Jinghu District, Wuhu 241000, Anhui Province, China. xumaoqi2020@163.com
Received: June 23, 2026
Revised: July 20, 2026
Accepted: September 4, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 139 Days and 1.4 Hours
Revised: July 20, 2026
Accepted: September 4, 2026
Published online: December 15, 2026
Processing time: 139 Days and 1.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Faecalibacterium prausnitzii extract and sodium butyrate selectively inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis in six colorectal cancer cell lines without significantly affecting normal colorectal cells. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii also reduced tumor growth in mice. Inhibitor of trichostatin A-1 partially reversed these effects, linking the observed responses to histone deacetylase activity and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B-related signaling changes. However, the findings remain associative and do not establish a direct causal pathway.