Energy Metabolism and Its Application in Obesity and Diabetes Research

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to take this occasion to invite you to submit your work to this Special Issue of Metabolites entitled “Energy Metabolism and its Application in Obesity and Diabetes Research”. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide, posing a significant burden to people’s health, as well as the health care systems worldwide. Indeed, obesity represents a risk factor for a constellation of comorbidities, ranging from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Aberrant energy metabolism in metabolically active tissues, such as the liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, is a key feature of obesity and provides the pathophysiological basis for the development of insulin resistance, the hallmark of T2DM. In particular, defective energy metabolism promotes the buildup of metabolites, which, in turn, are able to impair insulin signal transduction pathways. In this context, lipotoxicity represents a prominent example. Indeed, impaired mitochondrial fatty acid catabolism may be permissive for the intracellular accumulation of lipotoxic lipid species such as ceramides, which, in turn, impair insulin signaling, thereby promoting insulin resistance. Additionally, obesity is also associated with a state of low-grade chronic inflammation, which not only contributes to obesity cardio-metabolic comorbidities, but it is also able to influence energy metabolism.

Thus, the aim of this Special Issue is to gather new insights into the relationship between energy metabolism and metabolic health, with a specific focus on obesity and T2DM and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. As part of this Special Issue, we invite the submission of original manuscripts spanning basic to clinical research, but also meta-analyses, narratives and systematic reviews that focus on energy metabolism and particularly the contribution of its dysregulation to poor metabolic health. Manuscripts that investigate the role of dietary patterns, nutrients and nutraceuticals on energy metabolism are also welcome. Finally, we particularly encourage the submission of papers on metabolomics as a tool to identify defects in energy metabolism and identify novel metabolites that are able to bridge the gap between fuel metabolism and metabolic health.

Dr. Domenico Sergi
Dr. Angelina Passaro
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 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.

• energy metabolism
• metabolic health
• insulin resistance
• metabolomics
• lipidomics