Cardiometabolic dieases are the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite large clinical and basic research efforts to improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these conditions and to develop prediagnostic markers still remains a challenge. Recently, targeted and untargeted metabolomics technique became available for comprehensive studies of small molecules in biological samples in large-scale studies. MS- or NMR-based techniques dominate and have recently been used extensively in studies to identify predictive biomarkers, monitoring therapeutic response as well as in basic mechanism studies of obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Here, we review the recent findings from such studies. Findings highlight the role of branched-chain amino acids, acyl carnitines and other lipid classes in these conditions. Putative biomarkers for disease conditions have been identified but mechanistic understanding of their role in the disease development and progression typically remains to be elucidated. Future studies should to a greater extent be designed to allow studies on causal mechanistic links between metabolites and disease.
