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Updated: Feb 13, 2026
Chinese Herbal Retention Enema for the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis
Published on: May 16, 2025
Wuji Wan ameliorates ulcerative colitis by restoring impaired membrane transport
Jianyu Zhang1, Yang Zhang1, Yuxuan Guo1
1Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Introduction:
Wuji Wan (WJW) is a classical Chinese formula traditionally prescribed for diarrhea/dysentery and abdominal pain. In ulcerative colitis (UC), inflammatory diarrhea reflects not only mucosal inflammation but also inflammation-linked disruption of epithelial electrolyte and water handling, highlighting membrane transport as a mechanistic bridge between symptom burden and immune activation. However, it remains unclear whether WJW confers therapeutic benefit in UC and whether any benefit is accompanied by coordinated regulation of membrane-transport-linked pathways. This study therefore asked whether WJW shows therapeutic effects in a UC model and whether these effects are accompanied by changes in epithelial Na+/Cl- transport and water-channel programs and by modulation of the T-cell-linked potassium channel Kv1.3.
Methods:
We investigated this question in a mouse model of DSS-induced colitis (3% dextran sulfate sodium). Our assessment included disease activity index (DAI) scores, histopathological analysis, ELISA, Western blotting, untargeted metabolomics, and whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology.
Results:
WJW significantly ameliorated DSS-induced colitis, as reflected by improved colonic pathology and partial normalization of DSS-associated serum metabolic perturbations. Untargeted metabolomics highlighted transport-related pathways. WJW increased/normalized the expression of key epithelial transport proteins involved in Na+/Cl- absorption and water handling, including sodium/hydrogen exchanger 3 (NHE3), epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), downregulated in adenoma (DRA), aquaporin-3 (AQP3), and aquaporin-8 (AQP8). In parallel, WJW reduced IL-6, IL-17A, and IFN-γ and dampened ERK/NF-κB pathway activation. WJW also reduced colonic Kv1.3 protein expression, and WJW-containing plasma directly inhibited Kv1.3 currents in Jurkat T cells.
Conclusion:
WJW ameliorated DSS-induced colitis and was accompanied by coordinated modulation of epithelial and immune membrane-transport-linked readouts.
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