REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1620138
This article is part of the Research TopicTreating Hepato-Intestinal Diseases with Herbal Medicines and their MetabolitesView all 7 articles
Targeting the PI3K/Akt pathway for the treatment of ulcerative colitis: integrative regulatory features of traditional Chinese medicine
Provisionally accepted
- 1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
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The development of ulcerative colitis (UC), a highly prevalent inflammatory bowel disease worldwide, is closely related to the key regulatory role of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Although the use of Western drugs is the standard clinical treatment, the problems of drug resistance, side effects, and efficacy limitations are prominent. In contrast, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with the advantages of multi-target regulation and low toxicity and side effects, demonstrates the potential for and offers highly effective treatment. This paper systematically analyzes the mechanism of the PI3K/Akt pathway in UC. It focuses on how TCM metabolites, extracts, and formulas regulate inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, cell autophagy and apoptosis, intestinal barrier function, and bacterial homeostasis by targeting the pathway, which together can achieve the goal of alleviating the symptoms of UC. Our goal is to provide new insights into the prevention and treatment of UC and to contribute to the standardization of TCM.
Keywords: Ulcerative colitis1, Traditional Chinese medicine2, PI3K/AKT Signaling Pathway3, Chinese herbal medicine formula4, review5
Received: 29 Apr 2025; Accepted: 03 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Niu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yang Zhang, Department of Internal Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.