A panomics step to unravel the role of gut microbiota in metabolic disease

The research in this thesis has tried to gain new insight into the pathogenesis of obesity, insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). As appetizer, we used a systems biology approach with emphasis on the putative role of gut microbiota and observed remarkable associations between gut microbial composition, plasma metabolites and human genes and metabolic diseases. For the main course, we used the steppingstones that were provided by the comprehensive panomics analyses to move from association to causation by performing interventions studies that manipulate the gut microbiome in humans. For dessert, we investigated a new but old player in metabolic disease, cellular senescence. In contrast to the current paradigm, we revealed that insulin rather than glucose is associated with cellular senescence in metabolic disease.