About this Research Topic
In the hours that follow the intake of a meal – the postprandial period, a myriad of physiological adaptations take place to accommodate the surplus of nutrients, inducing changes in the plasma metabolome. These changes include alterations in plasma levels of nutrients, endogenous and intestinal microbiota-derived metabolites, as well as regulatory signals such as insulin and incretins. In parallel, a transient inflammatory response also occurs, inducing changes in inflammatory markers and circulating leukocytes. Postprandial changes vary in amplitude and duration and can be considered dynamic phenotypic traits that have the potential to reveal more about the regulation of metabolism and health status than the analysis of the metabolome in the fasting state. Such metabolic phenotypic traits are helpful in the determination of metabotypes which define the response of groups of people to interventions and their susceptibility to diseases.
This Research Topic will discuss physiological adaptations observed in the postprandial state. Reports on changes in plasma metabolome, inflammation, as well as studies on cell metabolism and function in the hours that follow the intake of a meal are welcome. Research articles in humans, animal models as well as reviews in this topic area will be considered for peer review.
Relevant questions to this topic are:
• Are postprandial changes in different organs and systems exhaustively characterized? What is new?
• What is postprandial inflammation? How changes in plasma levels of mediators of inflammation,
leucocyte numbers, and metabolism are affected by the intake of a meal?
• Can the composition of the intestinal microbiome influence postprandial responses? What are the changes in plasma levels of gut microbiota-derived metabolites during the postprandial period?
• How the study of postprandial responses affects the development of personalized medicine? How the characterization of postprandial alterations helps in the identification of markers of disease or susceptibility to interventions? Is it possible to tailor dietary advice based on postprandial metabotypes?
• What is the influence of genetics and epigenetics on postprandial responses?
This Research Topic will discuss physiological adaptations observed in the postprandial state. Reports on changes in plasma metabolome, inflammation, as well as studies on cell metabolism and function in the hours that follow the intake of a meal are welcome. Research articles in humans, animal models as well as reviews in this topic area will be considered for peer review.
Relevant questions to this topic are:
• Are postprandial changes in different organs and systems exhaustively characterized? What is new?
• What is postprandial inflammation? How changes in plasma levels of mediators of inflammation,
leucocyte numbers, and metabolism are affected by the intake of a meal?
• Can the composition of the intestinal microbiome influence postprandial responses? What are the changes in plasma levels of gut microbiota-derived metabolites during the postprandial period?
• How the study of postprandial responses affects the development of personalized medicine? How the characterization of postprandial alterations helps in the identification of markers of disease or susceptibility to interventions? Is it possible to tailor dietary advice based on postprandial metabotypes?
• What is the influence of genetics and epigenetics on postprandial responses?
Keywords: postprandial, metabolism, inflammation, intestinal microbiota, bile acids, metabolomics, incretins
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
