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Metabolites
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Metabolomics in Human Diseases and Health: 2nd Edition
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Metabolomics in Human Diseases and Health: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Advances in Metabolomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 3294

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dimitris Kounatidis

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Guest Editor
Diabetes Center, First Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Laiko General Hospital, Athens, Greece
Interests: diabetes; lipids; biomarkers; lipoproteins; obesity; microbiota; sepsis; antibiotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Iordanis Mourouzis

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Interests: pharmacology; cardiac remodeling; cardiac regeneration; heart failure; sepsis; hypertension; atherogenesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metabolomics is a rapidly evolving field dedicated to the comprehensive identification and analysis of small molecules or metabolites present in various biological samples, including cells, tissues, and bodily fluids. Unlike other "omics" technologies, metabolomics offers a direct reflection of cellular and tissue metabolic activity and status, making it a promising tool for understanding the molecular phenotype. This field employs both untargeted and targeted approaches, with mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy being the primary analytical techniques. In the context of human health, metabolomics plays a pivotal role in identifying metabolic patterns associated with various diseases such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders.

These unique metabolic signatures can serve as diagnostic markers, facilitating early disease detection, monitoring disease progression, and guiding personalized treatment strategies. Furthermore, metabolomics contributes to a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms, paving the way for the development of novel therapeutic interventions and precision-targeted treatments. Therefore, metabolomics holds significant potential for advancing our understanding of human diseases and improving patient care outcomes, offering valuable insights into diagnosis and prognosis.

The aim of this Special Issue, titled "Metabolomics in Human Diseases," is to provide an in-depth overview of the field, focusing on the aspects mentioned above. We warmly invite submissions of original research and review articles that explore these themes and contribute to the advancement of metabolomics in human health.

Dr. Dimitris Kounatidis
Dr. Iordanis Mourouzis
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.

Keywords

  • metabolomics
  • NAFLD
  • biomarkers
  • obesity
  • mass spectrometry
  • NMR spectroscopy
  • diabetes mellitus
  • cancer
  • cardiovascular diseases
  • neurodegenerative diseases

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 1757 KB  
Article
Partial Serotonin Transporter Deficiency Modulates Plasma Metabolome, Arginine-Nitric Oxide Pathway and Emotional Behavior in Mice Exposed to Western Diet
by Anna Gorlova, Raymond Cespuglio, Angelika Schmitt-Böhrer, Alexey Deykin, Allan V. Kalueff, Ksenia Lebedeva, Andrey Nedorubov, Gabriela Ortega Shulte, Evgeniy Svirin, Aleksey Lyundup, Klaus-Peter Lesch and Tatyana Strekalova
Metabolites 2026, 16(2), 117; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo16020117 - 9 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 705
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Reduced serotonin transporter (SERT) function is associated with increased vulnerability to emotional and metabolic dysregulation, particularly in elderly women. Most preclinical studies relied on young male rodents with complete Sert deficiency; the Western diet (WD) acerbates these abnormalities. However, complete Sert [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Reduced serotonin transporter (SERT) function is associated with increased vulnerability to emotional and metabolic dysregulation, particularly in elderly women. Most preclinical studies relied on young male rodents with complete Sert deficiency; the Western diet (WD) acerbates these abnormalities. However, complete Sert loss does not fully reflect the human condition of partial SERT dysfunction. Here, we examined the effects of WD in aged female Sert+/− mice on metabolic, biochemical, molecular, and behavioral outcomes. Methods: Wild-type (WT) and Sert+/− mice were fed WD or a control diet. Emotionality, cognition, glucose tolerance (GT), plasma 1HNMR spectroscopy metabolome and biochemical parameters were studied. Gene expression analyses of nitric oxide (NO)-related markers were performed in the hypothalamus, dorsal raphe, and liver. Results: WD-exposed WT mice showed impaired GT and reduced plasma lactate and branched-chain amino acid levels; metabolome changes were more pronounced in mutants, while GT was unchanged. Naïve Sert+/− mice exhibited lower lactate and alanine levels compared with WT controls. WD increased leptin and cholesterol levels in both genotypes, whereas triglyceride concentrations were reduced in Sert+/− mice. Both WD and Sert deficiency increased Nos expression, while arginase expression was differentially regulated by genotype and diet. Malondialdehyde levels were elevated in the prefrontal cortex of Sert+/− mice regardless diet. WD also impaired object recognition memory and induced anxiety- and depression-like behaviors, with more pronounced effects in Sert+/− mice, except marble test behavior. Conclusions: Partial Sert deficiency aggravates some but not all WD-induced metabolic alterations, enhances oxidative stress, dysregulates arginine–NO signaling, and modifies behavior, highlighting the translational relevance of Sert+/− mice for modeling SERT dysfunction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics in Human Diseases and Health: 2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 1684 KB  
Article
Metabolomics-Based Machine Learning Diagnostics of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
by Ethan Cai, Valentina L. Kouznetsova and Igor F. Tsigelny
Metabolites 2025, 15(12), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo15120801 - 17 Dec 2025
Viewed by 1247
Abstract
Background: COVID-19 has taken millions of lives and continues to affect people worldwide. Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (also known as Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) or more commonly, Long COVID) occurs in the aftermath of COVID-19 and is poorly understood despite its [...] Read more.
Background: COVID-19 has taken millions of lives and continues to affect people worldwide. Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (also known as Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) or more commonly, Long COVID) occurs in the aftermath of COVID-19 and is poorly understood despite its widespread effects. Methods: We created a machine-learning model that distinguishes PASC from PASC-similar diseases. The model was trained to recognize PASC-dysregulated metabolites (p ≤ 0.05) using molecular descriptors. Results: Our multi-layer perceptron model accurately recognizes PASC-dysregulated metabolites in the independent testing set, with an AUC-ROC of 0.8991, and differentiates PASC from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Lyme disease, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, it was unable to differentiate fibromyalgia (FM) from PASC. Conclusions: By creating and testing models pairwise on each of these diseases, we elucidated the unique strength of the similarity between FM and PASC relative to other PASC-similar diseases. Our approach is unique to PASC diagnosis, and our use of molecular descriptors enables our model to work with any metabolite where molecular descriptors can be identified, as these descriptors can be generated and compared for any metabolite. Our study presents a novel approach to PASC diagnosis that partially circumvents the lengthy process of exclusion, potentially facilitating faster interventions and improved patient outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics in Human Diseases and Health: 2nd Edition)
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13 pages, 754 KB  
Article
Maternal Inflammation During Pregnancy and Cord Blood Metabolomic Signatures in the Context of HIV Exposure
by Tianyue Fu, Ellen C. Francis, Carolyn Kinkade, Rhoda S. Sperling, Yunping Qiu, Irwin J. Kurland, Jennifer Jao and Stephanie Shiau
Metabolites 2025, 15(12), 765; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo15120765 - 25 Nov 2025
Viewed by 940
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Pregnant people with HIV (PWH) are more likely to experience systemic inflammation than pregnant people without HIV (PWoH), which may contribute to adverse outcomes in HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants; however, the underlying mechanisms are not well studied. This study examined associations [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Pregnant people with HIV (PWH) are more likely to experience systemic inflammation than pregnant people without HIV (PWoH), which may contribute to adverse outcomes in HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants; however, the underlying mechanisms are not well studied. This study examined associations between maternal inflammatory markers during pregnancy and cord blood inflammatory markers and metabolomic signatures. Methods: Between 2011 and 2025, pregnant PWH and PWoH were enrolled at 24–28 weeks of gestational age. Maternal plasma was analyzed for inflammatory markers [interleukin (IL)-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), soluble TNF-α receptor 1 (sTNFR1) and 2 (sTNFR2), soluble CD163 (sCD163), soluble CD14 (sCD14)]. At delivery, cord blood was collected for measurement of IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-10 and for targeted metabolomics by ultra-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Spearman correlation, linear regression, and weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) were used to evaluate associations, stratified by HIV exposure. Results: This study included 22 PWH and 47 PWoH and their infants. Among HEU infants, but not HUU infants, maternal IL-6 correlated with cord blood TNFα (r = 0.443, p < 0.05) and maternal sTNFR1 correlated with both cord blood TNFα (r = 0.617, p < 0.05) and IFNγ (r = −0.517, p < 0.05). WGCNA identified five metabolomic modules. In the HEU group, naternal sCD14 was positively associated with a metabolomic module characterized by lysophosphotidylecholines in the HEU group. Conclusions: We identified distinct patterns in the relationships between maternal inflammation and infant immune–metabolic profiles by HIV exposure status. These findings suggest that HIV infection, even with viral suppression, may alter the maternal–fetal inflammatory interface and influence early metabolic programming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolomics in Human Diseases and Health: 2nd Edition)
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