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World J Diabetes. Jul 15, 2021; 12(7): 1070-1080
Published online Jul 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i7.1070
Multi-omics: Opportunities for research on mechanism of type 2 diabetes mellitus
Shuai Wang, Hui Yong, Xiao-Dong He
Shuai Wang, Hui Yong, Institute of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China
Xiao-Dong He, Department of Physical and Chemical Inspection, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Wang S was responsible for drafting the article; Yong H and He XD made contributions to data acquisition; He XD contributed to conception and provided final approval of the version of the article to be published.
Supported by Grant from International Joint Usage/Research Center, the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo, No. New-2020-K2012; and Open Project of Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, No. 2.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Dong He, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Physical and Chemical Inspection, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, No. 44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong Province, China. xiaodong.he@sdu.edu.cn
Received: January 24, 2021
Peer-review started: January 24, 2021
First decision: March 16, 2021
Revised: March 22, 2021
Accepted: May 22, 2021
Article in press: May 22, 2021
Published online: July 15, 2021
Processing time: 168 Days and 18.4 Hours
Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a burdensome global disease. In-depth understanding of its mechanism will help to optimize diagnosis and treatment, which reduces the burden. Multi-omics research has unparalleled advantages in contributing to the overall understanding of the mechanism of this chronic metabolic disease. In the past two decades, the study of multi-omics on T2DM-related intestinal flora perturbation and plasma dyslipidemia has shown tremendous potential and is expected to achieve major breakthroughs. The regulation of intestinal flora in diabetic patients has been confirmed by multiple studies. The use of metagenomics, 16S RNA sequencing, and metabolomics has comprehensively identified the overall changes in the intestinal flora and the metabolic disturbances that could directly or indirectly participate in the intestinal flora-host interactions. Lipidomics combined with other “omics” has characterized lipid metabolism disorders in T2DM. The combined application and cross-validation of multi-omics can screen for dysregulation in T2DM, which will provide immense opportunities to understand the mechanisms behind T2DM.

Keywords: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Gastrointestinal microbiome; Intestinal flora; Lipid metabolism disorders; Dyslipidemias; Metabolomics

Core Tip: The prospects of multi-omics in the study of the mechanisms of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-related intestinal flora perturbation and plasma dyslipidemia are tremendous. The use of multi-omics has identified variations in T2DM intestinal flora composition and human-microbiota interactions. However, further sequencing is required, and the clinical application needs to be clarified and simplified. Multi-omics is also identifying T2DM lipid profiles, which will provide immense opportunities to understand the mechanisms of T2DM-related dyslipidemia.