Human Microbiome and Personalized Nutrition

  • 51k

    Total downloads

  • 271k

    Total views and downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

Today food is recognized as one of the most important factors that directly regulates the human microbiome, immune response and correspondingly modulates our metabolic balance. The final result of this tremendous impact on human health is dependent on the inter-relationships between a large variety of external and internal factors within the host. Thus, the prediction of the impact of food on human health is a complex and multidisciplinary task.

Personalized nutrition, due to its direct effects on the modulation and maintenance of the human microbiome, is the key instrument for early diagnosis and prevention of “food-relevant” diseases and their co-morbidities. Thus, prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and its treatment can be effectively managed when nutritional recommendations are applied in an age-group-specific and patient-centered basis. The new trend of “functional food” today can be defined as personalized, safe and tasty products, aimed at meeting individual requirements in nutrition while simultaneously maintaining microbial balance, variety and functions. Furthermore, pharmabiotics such as pre-, pro and synbiotics and their metabolites should also be individually prescribed based on the specific nosology as well as on the micro-immuno-biome characteristics of individuals.

The combination of (i) in vitro-based experiments; (ii) studies in germ-free mice and in transgenic mouse models of chronic and acute inflammation; (iii) clinical data of randomized trials and (iv) limited diet / nutrition studies have provided a number of very promising practical solutions for enabling the application of personalized nutrition. However, the practical use of bioinformatics to create algorithm(s) for the calculation of personalized nutrition is proving highly challenging due to the huge variety and diversity of existing data in this field. We are currently faced with the absence of unified approaches for the harmonization, evaluation, verification and proper exploitation of data with the aim of practical implementation in preventive, predictive and personalized medicine.

There are several open questions that remain unclear: (i) how to integrate personalized nutrition in health and disease; (ii) how to find / verify early disease-specific biomarkers and to improve diagnostic approaches; (iii) how to design and produce healthy food; (iv) how to clinically prove its beneficial influence on human health based on existent data related to the maintenance of human microbiome and local immune response; (v) how to develop (and implement) bioinformatics tools (algorithms) that are specifically address the above-mentioned tasks and meet the requirements of different target audiences (patients, doctors, food producers, etc.).

In order to achieve these tasks, all relevant and available databases need to be collectively organized and re-examined as a valuable source for many multidisciplinary purposes in order to facilitate the integration of instruments required to put personalized nutrition into practice.

This Research Topic aims to pragmatically connect publically available knowledge on: (i) the triggers and biomarkers of NCD; (ii) personalized nutrition requirements; (iii) individual microbiome specificity, and (iv) the currently under-developed use of bioinformatics and other instruments for the prevention and/or treatment of NCD, based on patient stratification principles.

We invite the submission of manuscripts that will cover the following topics but are not limited to:

1. Human microbiome functions, modulation and regulatory mechanisms.
2. Epigenetic factors influencing the human microbiome and/or human nutrition.
3. Tools for NCD prevention.
4. Biomarkers of chronic inflammation and local immune response.
5. Bioinformatic tools for algorithms for personalized nutrition.

Keywords: Human microbiome, Non-communicable diseases, Personalized nutrition, Chronic inflammation, Immune response

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.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Impact

  • 271kTopic views
  • 213kArticle views
  • 51kArticle downloads
View impact