Metabolic pathways are tightly regulated in a tissue-specific manner to maintain whole-body homeostasis. Nutrients and hormones control these pathways at the level of transcription, translation, and/or post-translation. Genomic and proteomic tools have been predominantly used to understand metabolic regulation, and only a few studies used metabolomics approaches. Metabolomics is a powerful, unbiased approach that allows comprehensive metabolic analysis of physiologic measurements and energy balance. Thus, nutrimetabolomics can expedite our ability to identify metabolic diseases that are influenced by nutrients and to develop targeted diet-based treatments. Presentations at this symposium reviewed current resources and platforms for metabolic profiling along with statistical and bioinformatics tools for data and pathway analyses. Specific applications of metabolomics were illustrated in nutritional and disease conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes, and obesity and in host-gut microbiome interactions.
© 2014 American Society for Nutrition.