Advances in Metabolomics for Precision Medicine: From Biomarker Discovery to Clinical Applications: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Endocrinology and Clinical Metabolic Research".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 876

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Guest Editor
Metabolon, Inc., Morrisville, NC 27560, USA
Interests: cardiometabolic diseases; population health; endocrine diseases
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Although clinical chemistry analyses such as fasting plasma glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, and the components of the basic and complete metabolic panels serve as the backbone for preliminary patient analyses, the development of more advanced tests means that they are beginning to be used to diagnose patients. Currently, standard assays such as the lipid panel which provides high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride, and cholesterol levels provide an overall assessment of the potential presence of a disease linked to lipid metabolism in patients.  Metabolomics can provide additional information regarding a greater number of molecules and the speciation of molecules, which can provide additional insight into the presence of disease by identifying biochemical trajectories earlier in the disease onset process and providing additional insight into the presence of a specific disease. For example, metabolomics and lipidomic signatures not only provide cholesterol levels but also information on bile acids, free fatty acids, acylcarnitines, ketone bodies, sterols, steroid hormones, and higher-molecular-weight lipid species such as mono-, di-, and triacylglycerols, cholesterol esters, sphingolipids, and others. This more comprehensive assessment from a single, low-volume sample can provide insight into multiple different disease mechanisms and these same molecules can be leveraged to characterize therapeutic (medicinal and nutritional) interventions once patients are diagnosed and treated. Metabolomics can be applied to cardiometabolic diseases, hormonal dysfunction (e.g. thyroid diseases), neurological diseases, autoimmune diseases, diseases of the digestive system, and others. A patient’s metabolomic profile is not just driven by their genotype, but also by their nutritional intake and environmental and lifestyle choices. Understanding the implications of each of these contributors is of central importance to understanding a patient’s phenotype, not only to monitor human health but also to identify new biomarkers of disease and to monitor therapeutic interventions for those diseases. 

This Special Issue of Metabolites entitled “Advances in Metabolomics for Precision Medicine: From Biomarker Discovery to Clinical Applications: 2nd Edition” will be dedicated to identifying and addressing the most current challenges and successes in utilizing metabolomics independently or alongside other ‘omics’ technologies for diagnosing diseases and following patients post intervention to treat their disease. In addition to clinical studies, basic research including animal models and cell culture studies will also be included to provide a robust picture of the latest results in the field. New bioinformatics approaches for data analysis and tools to analyze large data sets are of interest and will also be considered for this Special Issue.

Dr. Adam D. Kennedy
Dr. Greg Michelotti
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • metabolomics
  • precision medicine
  • clinical disease
  • biomarkers
  • therapeutics
  • clinical metabolomics
  • nutrition
  • functional medicine

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 1044 KB  
Article
Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Gut Microbiota and Fecal Metabolome in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial in Preschoolers
by Letizia Guiducci, Luca Laghi, Nicolò Dellarosa, Paola Mastromarino, Margherita Prosperi, Filippo Muratori and Sara Calderoni
Metabolites 2026, 16(4), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo16040262 - 13 Apr 2026
Viewed by 609
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Recently, a randomized clinical trial evaluated whether a six-month probiotic administration could reduce symptom severity in preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), with (GI) or without (NGI) gastrointestinal symptoms. Significant positive changes were observed only in NGI children. A second explorative [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Recently, a randomized clinical trial evaluated whether a six-month probiotic administration could reduce symptom severity in preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), with (GI) or without (NGI) gastrointestinal symptoms. Significant positive changes were observed only in NGI children. A second explorative study on children prior to intervention identified a fecal metabolome fingerprint associated with ASD severity. Building on these findings, the present study aimed to assess whether metabolomics could monitor changes in ASD severity following probiotic administration using a subset of samples from the same trial. Second, this study aimed to identify fecal metabolites to be monitored in children to predict whether their autism severity may decrease after probiotic or placebo treatment. Methods: Evaluations of the fecal metabolome and microbiota could be completed on 57 children before and after a double-blind administration of a probiotic mixture or a placebo. Results: In NGI children the probiotic was found to influence the concentration of the amino acids aspartate, leucine, tryptophan, and valine, together with nicotinate and the short chain fatty acids acetate, butyrate, isobutyrate, and propionate. Lactobacilli and Sutterella showed significant changes in response to probiotic administration (p < 0.05). Acetate, 4-hydroxyphenyl, galactose, proline, and tyramine were identified as key fecal metabolites for prediction purposes. Conclusions: The present exploratory analysis, despite the small sample size, suggests that fecal metabolomics may provide a useful approach for monitoring and potentially for predicting changes in ASD severity following probiotics administration. Full article
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