Cardiometabolic health, diet and the gut microbiome: a meta-omics perspective

Abstract

Cardiometabolic diseases have become a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. They have been tightly linked to microbiome taxonomic and functional composition, with diet possibly mediating some of the associations described. Both the microbiome and diet are modifiable, which opens the way for novel therapeutic strategies. High-throughput omics techniques applied on microbiome samples (meta-omics) hold the unprecedented potential to shed light on the intricate links between diet, the microbiome, the metabolome and cardiometabolic health, with a top-down approach. However, effective integration of complementary meta-omic techniques is an open challenge and their application on large cohorts is still limited. Here we review meta-omics techniques and discuss their potential in this context, highlighting recent large-scale efforts and the novel insights they provided. Finally, we look to the next decade of meta-omics research and discuss various translational and clinical pathways to improving cardiometabolic health.

Fig. 1 |. The intricate, multidirectional relationship between diet, lifestyle, the gut microbiome and the metabolome and their influence on CMH.

a, Effectors of host CMH meta-omics approaches to studying the microbiome layer of the interaction. Note that metabolomics targets the whole metabolite pool; thus, microbial, host and shared metabolites can be detected. b, Meta-omics techniques and the sample types to which they are typically applied.

Fig. 2 |. Metabolite trafficking and their detection with metabolomics.

(1) Dietary metabolites are digested by the host and/or its microbiome. (2) Members of the microbiome produce a pool of metabolites from dietary substrates or other metabolites produced by the host. (3) Drug compounds can also be modified (for example, inactivated or bioaccumulated) by the microbiome. (4) Metabolomic technologies detect metabolites produced by the host, as well as those produced by the microbiome. All types of metabolites can affect CMH status.