Gastrointestinal diseases are still one of the most common diseases recently. Whether it is gastrointestinal inflammation or malignant tumors, people's health and quality of life are still troubled. Surgical treatment and chemotherapy can prolong life appropriately, but metastasis, surgical trauma and postoperative adverse reactions of chemotherapy drugs pose great challenges to gastrointestinal mucosal barrier function. Human gastrointestinal mucosa can not only absorb nutrients, expel waste, but also play a role in intestinal barrier, prevent intestinal flora and endotoxin transfer into blood, causing dysfunction of various organs. Aquaporins(AQPs) are a family of membrane water channels that basically function as regulators of intracellular and intercellular water flow. To date, thirteen AQPs are distributed widely to specific cell types in various organs and tissues in humans, regulating the transport of water and small molecules, and participating in many biological functions of the body. It is necessary for the organism to maintain a normal physiological state. Among them, aquaporin-3 is widely expressed in the gastrointestinal tract, permeating water, glycerol, hydrogen peroxide and other substances, which control the balance of liquid ions and promote cell proliferation and migration. Besides, it can protect the integrity of intestinal barrier and increase the resistance of gut to external stimuli. Abnormal expression of aquaporin-3 will lead to different gastrointestinal pathophysiological states, which directly affect the health of the gastrointestinal tract. The article reviews the research progress of the relationship between aquaporin-3 and gastrointestinal diseases in order to open the field for the occurrence and development of gastrointestinal diseases and to provide further thoughts for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.