Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42337021›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2026

A large-scale human plasma metabolite atlas from over 380,000 participants.

Zhirong Li, Yating Miao, Lina Jin, Yanan Ma, Xinyao Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Zhirong Li *Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
Yating Miao *Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Environmental Stress and Chronic Disease Control & Prevention, Ministry of Education, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-4094-0478
Lina JinDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China. jinln@jlu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8961-2809
Yanan MaDepartment of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Environmental Stress and Chronic Disease Control & Prevention, Ministry of Education, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China. ynma@cmu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0385-8929
Xinyao ZhangDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China. food@jlu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4113-8092

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Large-scale metabolomics enables systematic profiling of circulating small-molecule metabolites and provides an integrative view of genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and microbial influences on human health, yet comprehensive evidence linking metabolites to diverse traits, diseases, comorbidity, prediction, and causality remains limited. Here, we analyze 251 Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-derived plasma metabolites in 212,751 UK Biobank participants, with independent validation in 177,013 individuals from a newly released data wave. Testing across 884 health-related traits, 722 prevalent diseases, and 1137 incident diseases using multivariable regression and stringent Bonferroni correction, we identified 67,505 metabolite-trait, 21,982 metabolite-prevalent disease, and 41,214 metabolite-incident disease associations, with replication rates of 76.1%, 83.3%, and 74.0%, respectively. Associations were most concentrated in endocrine, metabolic, and circulatory diseases. Unsupervised clustering of disease-metabolite profiles revealed 10 and 12 disease clusters (for prevalent and incident diseases, respectively) that span International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 chapters yet share convergent metabolomic signatures, providing a metabolic basis for clinical comorbidity. Metabolite-based predictive models showed stronger performance for short-term than long-term outcomes, with creatinine as the most frequently selected predictor across prevalent disease models. Bidirectional Mendelian randomisation (MR) identified 61 putative metabolite-to-disease causal effects and 558 disease-driven metabolic alterations. This study provides a systematically validated plasma metabolomic atlas ( https://net-matebolic.vercel.app/ ) linking metabolites with human traits and diseases, offering insights into comorbidity, risk prediction, and potential causal pathways.

Indexed as

MetabolomeMetabolomicsBiomarkersFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance SpectroscopyMaleUK BiobankBiomarkers

Identifiers

PMID42337021
PMCPMC13661614

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