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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther. Dec 5, 2025; 16(4): 111082
Published online Dec 5, 2025. doi: 10.4292/wjgpt.v16.i4.111082
Published online Dec 5, 2025. doi: 10.4292/wjgpt.v16.i4.111082
Intestinal-related substances in obesity regulation: A comprehensive review
Shuai-Yan Wang, Meng-Zhe Zhang, Zi-Ming Chen, Zi-Mu Li, Cong-Yi Xie, Bin Xu, Tian-Cheng Xu, Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China
Guan-Hu Yang, Department of Specialty Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, United States
Co-first authors: Shuai-Yan Wang and Meng-Zhe Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Bin Xu and Tian-Cheng Xu.
Author contributions: Wang SY was responsible for the idea and conceptual framework; Wang SY, Zhang MZ, Chen ZM, Li ZM, Xie CY and Xu TC wrote the first draft of the manuscript; Yang GH, Xu B and Xu TC reviewed the manuscript and critically revised it for important intellectual content; Xu B and Xu TC have played important and indispensable roles in the manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors; all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by The National Natural Science Foundation, Youth Science Fund Project, No. 82305376; The Youth Talent Support Project of the China Acupuncture and Moxibustion Association, No. 2024-2026ZGZJXH-QNRC005; The 2024 Jiangsu Province Youth Science and Technology Talent Support Project, No. JSTJ-2024-380; and 2025 Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Think Tank Program Project, No. JSKX0125035.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with the publication of this manuscript.
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: Tian-Cheng Xu, Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 138 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia District, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China. xtc@njucm.edu.cn
Received: June 23, 2025
Revised: August 20, 2025
Accepted: November 17, 2025
Published online: December 5, 2025
Processing time: 166 Days and 0.1 Hours
Revised: August 20, 2025
Accepted: November 17, 2025
Published online: December 5, 2025
Processing time: 166 Days and 0.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Gut hormones, microbial metabolites, and neurotransmitters such as 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), short-chain fatty acids, and indolepropionic acid play crucial roles in regulating metabolism and obesity. Emerging therapies like glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and gut microbiota modulation show promise in addressing these factors. Future research should focus on personalized, multi-target approaches for effective obesity management, optimizing treatments, and understanding the diverse impacts of gut-derived substances on metabolic health.