1.Biological Connotation of Pathogenesis of Colorectal Cancer Due to Damp-heat Accumulation Based on Immune Response-intestinal Microbial Axis
Yijuan WU ; Xinghong SUN ; Haixia GUO ; Xiang'an ZAHNG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(6):228-237
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignant tumor of the intestinal tract with changes in bowel habits, blood in the stool, and pain as the main clinical manifestations. With the change in lifestyle and diet structure in recent years, the incidence of CRC has been increasing year by year. The pathogenesis of CRC is closely related to abnormal immune response and chronic inflammation, intestinal microbial dysbiosis, and the production of oncogenic metabolites. There is a two-way communication between the intestinal microbiota and the body's immunity, which not only plays a key role in maintaining the body's health but also has a close relationship with the development of diseases. An increasing number of studies have shown that abnormal immune responses accelerate the disease process by producing inflammatory factors, causing chronic inflammation in the body, disrupting the intestinal mucosal barrier, and increasing mucosal permeability, thus resulting in dysbiosis of the intestinal microbial ecology and a large number of pathogenic microorganisms and their metabolites. In addition, dysbiosis of intestinal microbes, by suppressing the normal immune response, leads to the disruption of multiple metabolic pathways in the body, affecting the internal and external stress response of the intestine, inducing inflammation, and thus producing disease. Therefore, the complex crosstalk mechanism between the immune response and intestinal microbial axis is closely related to the development of CRC. Based on traditional Chinese medicine theory and clinical research, it was found that dietary factors are an important causative factor in the development of CRC. The deficiency of positive energy is the root cause of the disease, and damp-heat accumulation is the key pathogenesis. Through modern medical and biological research, it is believed that abnormal immune response is the microscopic manifestation of damp-heat entrapment, while intestinal microbial dysbiosis is the biological basis of toxic injection into the large intestine, and in the pathogenesis of CRC, the imbalance of immune response-intestinal microbial axis is compatible with damp-heat accumulation in traditional Chinese medicine. This study aims to explore the biological connotation of CRC due to damp-heat accumulation from the immune response-intestinal microbial axis, so as to interpret the pathogenesis of CRC due to damp-heat accumulation with objective data and provide new ideas and theoretical basis for the pathogenesis and treatment strategies of CRC due to damp-heat accumulation.