Herbal medicine and its impact on the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer

Fan Bu; Yifeng Tu; Ziang Wan; Shiliang Tu

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1096008

Herbal medicine and its impact on the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Jul 4:13:1096008. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1096008. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Fan Bu¹, Yifeng Tu², Ziang Wan¹, Shiliang Tu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Colorectal Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² The Second Affiliated College of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

It is well-established that there are trillions of gut microbiota (GM) in the human gut. GM and its metabolites can reportedly cause cancer by causing abnormal immune responses. With the development of sequencing technology and the application of germ-free models in recent years, significant inroads have been achieved in research on GM and microbiota-related metabolites. Accordingly, the role and mechanism of GM in colorectal cancer (CRC) development have been gradually revealed. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) represents an important source of natural medicines and herbal products, with huge potential as anti-CRC agents. The potential application of TCM to target gut microbes for the treatment of colorectal cancer represents an exciting area of investigation.

Keywords: bile acids; colorectal cancer; gut microbiota; herbal medicine; microbial metabolism.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Colorectal Neoplasms* / drug therapy
Drugs, Chinese Herbal* / pharmacology
Drugs, Chinese Herbal* / therapeutic use
Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / physiology
Humans
Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Substances

Drugs, Chinese Herbal

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (NO.LY18H160041 and NO. LQ21H160042). This work was also supported by the Seed Foundation of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (ZRY2022J008).