Metabolomics and Microbiomes as Potential Tools to Evaluate the Effects of the Mediterranean Diet

Abstract

The approach to studying diet–health relationships has progressively shifted from individual dietary components to overall dietary patterns that affect the interaction and balance of low-molecular-weight metabolites (metabolome) and host-enteric microbial ecology (microbiome). Even though the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been recognized as a powerful strategy to improve health, the accurate assessment of exposure to the MedDiet has been a major challenge in epidemiological and clinical studies. Interestingly, while the effects of individual dietary components on the metabolome have been described, studies investigating metabolomic profiles in response to overall dietary patterns (including the MedDiet), although limited, have been gaining attention. Similarly, the beneficial effects of the MedDiet on cardiometabolic outcomes may be mediated through gut microbial changes. Accumulating evidence linking food ingestion and enteric microbiome alterations merits the evaluation of the microbiome-mediated effects of the MedDiet on metabolic pathways implicated in disease. In this narrative review, we aimed to summarize the current evidence from observational and clinical trials involving the MedDiet by (1) assessing changes in the metabolome and microbiome for the measurement of diet pattern adherence and (2) assessing health outcomes related to the MedDiet through alterations to human metabolomics and/or the microbiome.

Gut microbiome-Mediterranean diet interactions in improving host health

“…Higher adherence to MD has been found to be associated with reduced incidences of several chronic diseases, such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, gastrointestinal cancer, cardiovascular diseases, fatty liver diseases, chronic kidney diseases and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease ( Table 2 ) 59 – 63 . Based on different studies, the lowering effects of MD against the incidence of these disorders have been attributed to different MD dietary constituents derived from fruits, vegetables, lean meat, nuts and grains, fibers, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, polyphenols, and antioxidant ( Table 2 ) 64 – 66 . Considering that the pathology of the above-mentioned diseases involves a dysbiotic gut microbiome and that the ingredients of the MD closely interact with gut microbial community, it can be suggested that the mechanisms by which MD drives health effects on the host might be mediated by an integrated interplay between the diet and the gut microbiome ( Figure 1 ).…”

The gut microbiota profile of adults with kidney disease: A systematic review of the literature

“…Because nutrients are not consumed in isolation, exploring the impact of whole foods and overall dietary patterns on the gut microbiota offers a more superior and rigorous methodological approach. Furthermore, the addition of other sophisticated multi-omic technologies such as metabolomics [85,86] may also be warranted to provide a more comprehensive exploration of the metabolic interactions between the microbiome and diet in the context of kidney disease.…”

Metabolomics in Radiation Biodosimetry: Current Approaches and Advances

“…In that study [ 92 ], which used a mouse model with a breast-cancer xenograft, the authors found that, when a ketogenic feeding was combined with chemotherapy, animals on the special diet had a different metabolomic signature than tumor-bearing mice on a control diet, and those signatures more closely resembled that of the healthy mice (without a tumor). Another popular food plan, the “Mediterranean Diet”, has also been studied for its impact on both the metabolomic signature and microbiome of humans [ 93 ]. In a review of clinical trial information, beneficial effects of the diet were seen, and were believed to be mediated by changes in the gut microbiome in response to the altered nutrition.…”