Metabolic Responses to Exercise and Nutrition: From Molecular Mechanisms to Functional Performance

Dear Colleagues,

Physical activity and nutrition are fundamental pillars of human health, and their synergistic effects are mediated through complex metabolic networks that influence physiological function across multiple organ systems. The emergence of high-throughput metabolomics has transformed our capacity to comprehensively characterize the metabolic consequences of exercise and nutritional interventions, enabling researchers to move beyond traditional reductionist approaches toward a systems-level understanding of how lifestyle factors shape human metabolism and functional capacity.

This Special Issue, titled “Metabolic Responses to Exercise and Nutrition: From Molecular Mechanisms to Functional Performance”, seeks to integrate cutting-edge metabolomic research with exercise physiology and nutritional science to advance our understanding of how metabolic adaptations translate into improved movement capacity, physical performance, and health outcomes. We aim to bridge the gap between molecular metabolic processes and their functional manifestations in human movement and performance.

We invite original research articles and comprehensive reviews that employ metabolomic approaches to investigate the interplay among exercise, nutrition, and metabolism. Topics of particular interest include the identification of metabolic signatures associated with different exercise modalities, intensities, and training adaptations; the characterization of nutritional metabolites that modulate exercise responses and recovery; the discovery of biomarkers that predict or correlate with functional performance outcomes such as strength, endurance, and movement quality; the elucidation of metabolic pathways underlying the combined effects of dietary interventions and physical activity on health and disease; the application of metabolomics to personalized nutrition and exercise prescription; and the investigation of metabolic mechanisms linking exercise–nutrition interactions to improvements in chronic disease management. Studies examining inter-organ metabolic crosstalk during exercise and feeding, the temporal dynamics of metabolic responses to acute and chronic interventions, and the integration of metabolomics with other omics technologies are particularly encouraged.

This Special Issue will provide a platform for innovative research that accelerates the translation of metabolomic insights into evidence-based strategies for optimizing human health, performance, and functional capacity through integrated exercise and nutritional interventions.

Dr. Do-Houn Kim
Dr. Cristina Mennitti
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 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-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 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.

• metabolomics
• exercise metabolism
• nutritional metabolites
• biomarkers
• functional performance
• physical activity
• metabolic adaptation
• movement capacity
• exercise–nutrition interactions
• personalized nutrition