Editorial: The role of gut microbiome metabolites in cardiometabolic disorders

Growing evidence shows that the gut microbiome is not a passive passenger but an active metabolic “organ” producing bioactive compounds that shape systemic metabolic homeostasis and cardiovascular function. Microbiome-derived metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids, branched-chain amino acids, and tryptophan metabolites, exert a profound influence on inflammation, energy regulation, endothelial function, and neurocardiac communication. Cardiometabolic diseases remain a leading global health challenge, and traditional risk factors such as diet, lifestyle, and genetics do not fully explain the variability in disease onset and progression—even under similar environmental conditions and with comparable genotypes. Microbiome-derived metabolites may represent a missing mechanistic link, operating along multiple systems within the human body, a concept increasingly described in terms of specific gut–target organ axes, including the gut-heart, gut-metabolic, and gut- brain axes. These pathways modulate host physiology at molecular, cellular, and organ levels, affecting inflammation, glucose and lipid metabolism, intestinal barrier integrity, and receptor-mediated signaling.