Dear Colleagues,

Animals are critical to the health and wellbeing of people across the globe through their roles as companions, agricultural commodities, or in translational models for biomedical research.

Metabolomics, the systematic investigation of small molecules in living systems, is continually developing our understanding of animal health and disease. The impact of metabolomics has been expanded in part due to advancements in microbiome sciences.

The interconnectivity of metabolomics and the microbiome is especially notable in gut microbial ecosystems. Here, integrated microbiome and metabolome analyses have elucidated the functional mechanisms by which the gut microbiome interacts with a host. Using animal models, these analyses have increased our awareness of how environmental factors, including diet, drugs, and biologic agents (e.g., probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, bacteriophages), modulate gut microbiome function.  Collectively, the findings of these studies have been applied to improve clinical outcomes for people and animals, and they illustrate the increasing need for further investigation into gut microbiome and host interactions.

This Special Issue welcomes the submission of novel research papers with an emphasis on gut microbiome and metabolome studies in animal models. Topics that will be covered include (but are not limited to) basic, pre-clinical, and clinical research studies using animal models in the following aims:

I. To understand the role(s) of the gut microbiome and metabolome in the prevention and treatment of infectious and/or chronic diseases.
ii. To assess the utility and feasibility of gut microbiome and metabolome endpoints, including biomarkers, in clinical veterinary diagnostics.iii. To evaluate novel therapeutics in animals that work via modulation of the gut microbiome and metabolome, including biologic therapeutics (e.g., probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, bacteriophages, etc.).

Neither in vitro nor ex vivo models will be considered in this Special Issue. Additionally, studies that only present metabolomic data without concurrent microbiome analysis will not be considered.

Dr. Nora Jean Nealon
Dr. Nina Kristen E. Randolph
Dr. Chi Chen
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind 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 2200 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.

• gut microbiome
• metabolome
• animal model
• microbial metabolism
• host–microbe interactions
• veterinary medicine
• gut metagenomics
• gut metabolomics