MINI REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Gut-Brain Axis: Microbiota-Driven Immune Modulation and its Impact on Neurological HealthView all 18 articles
Modulation of Disease-Associated Gut Microbiota by Schisandra chinensis: A Literature Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
- 2Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
- 3The Third Affiliated Clinical Hospital of Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
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BACKGROUND: To clarify the mechanism by which S. chinensis regulates the disease-related gut microbiota and to identify potential directions for future research. METHODS: Relevant literature published between 2020 to 2025 was retrieved from Google scholar and NCBI PubMed. Two authors screened the literature based on titles and abstracts, followed by full-text screening by another two authors to ensure the inclusion of eligible studies. RESULTS: We found in 61 studies that S. chinensis rich in polysaccharides and lignans, which are primary bioactive compounds involved in modulating gut microbiota composition. These compounds have been extensively studied for their ability to rebalance gut microbiota, repair the intestinal barrier function, increase short-chain fatty acids levels, and regulate metabolic pathways. Therefore, S. chinensis alleviates the symptoms caused by ulcerative colitis, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, alcohol-associated liver disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, systemic inflammation, and neurobehavioral alterations associated with mental illness. Additionally, another study suggested that lignans influence bile acid production by modulating gut microbiota. CONCLUSION: Current research on S. chinensis regulate gut microbiota, which have demonstrated therapeutic effects in disease. However, the precis mechanisms of S. chinensis regulated the gut microbiota remain unclear, and high-quality clinical trials are lacking to validate the efficacy of S. chinensis in humans.
Keywords: Chinese herbal medicine, Gut microbe, Mechanism, pharmacological activate, Schisandra chinensis
Received: 10 Oct 2025; Accepted: 30 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Sun, Liu, Wang, Fan, Yue and Sun. 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: Tianxia Sun
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