Gut Microbiome Metabolites and Host Health

Dear Colleagues,

The gut microbiome has emerged as a central regulator of host physiology, with increasing evidence demonstrating that microbial communities and their metabolic activities play critical roles in maintaining health and influencing disease. Beyond their contribution to nutrient metabolism, gut microorganisms produce, transform, and modulate a diverse array of metabolites that can act as signaling molecules and functional mediators between the microbiota and host. These microbiome-derived metabolites, together with host- and diet-derived metabolites modified by microbial activity, constitute an important biochemical interface through which the gut microbiome communicates with distant organs and influences systemic physiology.

Recent advances in metabolomics, microbiome profiling, and multi-omics technologies have provided unprecedented opportunities to characterize this complex metabolic ecosystem and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying microbiome–host interactions. Metabolomic approaches enable the comprehensive investigation of metabolic changes associated with alterations in gut microbial composition and function, providing insights into metabolic pathways involved in intestinal barrier integrity, immune regulation, inflammation, energy homeostasis, and host signaling. In particular, microbial metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, bile acid derivatives, tryptophan metabolites, polyamines, and other bioactive compounds have attracted considerable attention for their potential roles in regulating host health and disease susceptibility.

This Special Issue, titled “Gut Microbiome Metabolites and Host Health,” aims to highlight recent advances in understanding how gut microbiome-derived and microbiome-modified metabolites contribute to host physiology and pathophysiology. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and methodological studies addressing, but not limited to, the identification and characterization of gut microbiome metabolites; metabolomic profiling of microbiome–host interactions; microbial transformation of dietary and host-derived compounds; metabolite-mediated regulation of intestinal and systemic immune responses; gut barrier function and intestinal health; microbiome metabolites in metabolic, inflammatory, cardiovascular, neurological, and other chronic diseases; diet–microbiome–metabolite interactions; and the development of metabolite-based biomarkers and therapeutic strategies. Studies integrating metabolomics with metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, or other multi-omics approaches are particularly encouraged.

By bringing together researchers working across microbiology, metabolomics, nutrition, physiology, and translational medicine, this Special Issue seeks to advance our understanding of the metabolic communication between the gut microbiome and its host and to provide new perspectives on how microbiome-derived metabolites can be harnessed to promote health, prevent disease, and inform precision nutrition and microbiome-based therapeutic approaches.

Prof. Dr. Yunus Emre Tuncil
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.