# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Diet and metabolism studies Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/diet-and-metabolism-studies/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Diet and metabolism studies research in the Class of 2026?

Research in diet and metabolism is centered on gut microbiota and host-microbiome interactions, with microbial metabolism, intestinal lipid absorption, and tryptophan pathways emerging as rapid risers. Meanwhile, broad descriptive topics such as short-chain fatty acids and caloric restriction declined as attention shifted toward precise mechanistic pathways and GLP-1 therapies.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Diet and metabolism studies |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 15,608 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Gut microbiota, Host-microbiome interactions, Microbial metabolism, Ketogenic diet, GLP-1 receptor agonists |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 80–221 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved July 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Cellular ATP demand creates metabolically distinct subpopulations of mitochondria | Keun Woo Ryu, Tak Shun Fung, Daphne C Baker, Michelle Saoi, Jinsung Park, Christopher A Febres-Aldana, Rania G Aly, Ruobing Cui, Anurag Sharma, Yi Fu, Olivia L Jones, Xin Cai, H Amalia Pasolli, Justin R Cross, Charles M Rudin, Craig B Thompson | Craig B. Thompson | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States | Nature | 221 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08146-w |
| 2 | A core microbiome signature as an indicator of health | Guojun Wu, Ting Xu, Naisi Zhao, Yan Y Lam, Xiaoying Ding, Dongqin Wei, Jian Fan, Yajuan Shi, Xiaofeng Li, Mi Li, Shenjie Ji, Xuejiao Wang, Huaqing Fu, Feng Zhang, Yu Shi, Chenhong Zhang, Yongde Peng, Liping Zhao | Guojun Wu | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, United States | Cell | 175 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.09.019 |
| 3 | Gut symbionts alleviate MASH through a secondary bile acid biosynthetic pathway | Qixing Nie, Xi Luo, Kai Wang, Yong Ding, Shumi Jia, Qixiang Zhao, Meng Li, Jinxin Zhang, Yingying Zhuo, Jun Lin, Chenghao Guo, Zhiwei Zhang, Huiying Liu, Guangyi Zeng, Jie You, Lulu Sun, Hua Lu, Ming Ma, Yanxing Jia, Ming-Hua Zheng, Yanli Pang, Jie Qiao, Changtao Jiang | Yanxing Jia, Ming‐Hua Zheng, Yanli Pang, Jie Qiao, Changtao Jiang | Peking University, China | Cell | 166 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.034 |
| 4 | Metformin decelerates aging clock in male monkeys | Yuanhan Yang, Xiaoyong Lu, Ning Liu, Shuai Ma, Hui Zhang, Zhiyi Zhang, Kuan Yang, Mengmeng Jiang, Zikai Zheng, Yicheng Qiao, Qinchao Hu, Ying Huang, Yiyuan Zhang, Muzhao Xiong, Lixiao Liu, Xiaoyu Jiang, Pradeep Reddy, Xueda Dong, Fanshu Xu, Qiaoran Wang, Qian Zhao, Jinghui Lei, Shuhui Sun, Ying Jing, Jingyi Li, Yusheng Cai, Yanling Fan, Kaowen Yan, Yaobin Jing, Amin Haghani, Mengen Xing, Xuan Zhang, Guodong Zhu, Weihong Song, Steve Horvath, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Moshi Song, Si Wang, Guoguang Zhao, Wei Li, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Jing Qu, Weiqi Zhang, Guang-Hui Liu | Jing Qu, Weiqi Zhang, Guang‐Hui Liu | Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Cell | 148 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.021 |
| 5 | Gut microbiome and metabolome profiling in Framingham heart study reveals cholesterol-metabolizing bacteria | Chenhao Li, Martin Stražar, Ahmed M T Mohamed, Julian A Pacheco, Rebecca L Walker, Tina Lebar, Shijie Zhao, Julia Lockart, Andrea Dame, Kumar Thurimella, Sarah Jeanfavre, Eric M Brown, Qi Yan Ang, Brittany Berdy, Dallis Sergio, Rachele Invernizzi, Antonio Tinoco, Gleb Pishchany, Ramachandran S Vasan, Emily Balskus, Curtis Huttenhower, Hera Vlamakis, Clary Clish, Stanley Y Shaw, Damian R Plichta, Ramnik J Xavier | Chenhao Li | Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, United States | Cell | 135 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.03.014 |
| 6 | Gut microbiota regulates stress responsivity via the circadian system | Gabriel S S Tofani, Sarah-Jane Leigh, Cassandra E Gheorghe, Thomaz F S Bastiaanssen, Lars Wilmes, Paromita Sen, Gerard Clarke, John F Cryan | John F. Cryan | University College Cork, Ireland | Cell Metabolism | 134 | 10.1016/j.cmet.2024.10.003 |
| 7 | Dietary fibre directs microbial tryptophan metabolism via metabolic interactions in the gut microbiota | Anurag K Sinha, Martin F Laursen, Julius E Brinck, Morten L Rybtke, Anna Pii Hjørne, Nicola Procházková, Mikael Pedersen, Henrik M Roager, Tine R Licht | Anurag Kumar Sinha, Tine Rask Licht | Technical University of Denmark, Denmark | Nature Microbiology | 126 | 10.1038/s41564-024-01737-3 |
| 8 | Resistant starch intake facilitates weight loss in humans by reshaping the gut microbiota | Huating Li, Lei Zhang, Jun Li, Qian Wu, Lingling Qian, Junsheng He, Yueqiong Ni, Petia Kovatcheva-Datchary, Rui Yuan, Shuangbo Liu, Li Shen, Mingliang Zhang, Bin Sheng, Ping Li, Kang Kang, Liang Wu, Qichen Fang, Xiaoxue Long, Xiaolin Wang, Yanli Li, Yaorui Ye, Jianping Ye, Yuqian Bao, Yueliang Zhao, Guowang Xu, Xinyu Liu, Gianni Panagiotou, Aimin Xu, Weiping Jia | Huating Li, Xinyu Liu, Gianni Panagiotou, Aimin Xu, Weiping Jia | Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China | Nature Metabolism | 117 | 10.1038/s42255-024-00988-y |
| 9 | Muscle matters: the effects of medically induced weight loss on skeletal muscle | Carla M Prado, Stuart M Phillips, M Cristina Gonzalez, Steven B Heymsfield | Steven B. Heymsfield | University of Alberta, Canada | The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology | 116 | 10.1016/s2213-8587(24)00272-9 |
| 10 | Microbiota metabolism of intestinal amino acids impacts host nutrient homeostasis and physiology | Ting-Ting Li, Xi Chen, Da Huo, Mohammad Arifuzzaman, Shanshan Qiao, Wen-Bing Jin, Huiqing Shi, Xin V Li, JRI Live Cell Bank Consortium, Iliyan D Iliev, David Artis, Chun-Jun Guo | Chun‐Jun Guo | Cornell University, United States | Cell Host & Microbe | 109 | 10.1016/j.chom.2024.04.004 |
| 11 | Gut physiology and environment explain variations in human gut microbiome composition and metabolism | Nicola Procházková, Martin F Laursen, Giorgia La Barbera, Eirini Tsekitsidi, Malte S Jørgensen, Morten A Rasmussen, Jeroen Raes, Tine R Licht, Lars O Dragsted, Henrik M Roager | Henrik M. Roager | University of Copenhagen, Denmark | Nature Microbiology | 107 | 10.1038/s41564-024-01856-x |
| 12 | The Development and Evaluation of a Literature-Based Dietary Index for Gut Microbiota | Bezawit E Kase, Angela D Liese, Jiajia Zhang, Elizabeth Angela Murphy, Longgang Zhao, Susan E Steck | Susan E. Steck | University of South Carolina, United States | Nutrients | 103 | 10.3390/nu16071045 |
| 13 | The impact of weight loss on fat-free mass, muscle, bone and hematopoiesis health: Implications for emerging pharmacotherapies aiming at fat reduction and lean mass preservation | Konstantinos Stefanakis, Michail Kokkorakis, Christos S Mantzoros | Konstantinos Stefanakis | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, United States | Metabolism | 102 | 10.1016/j.metabol.2024.156057 |
| 14 | Gut microbiota modulates neurotransmitter and gut-brain signaling | Shiyan Qu, Zijin Yu, Yaxuan Zhou, Shiyi Wang, Minqi Jia, Ti Chen, Xiaojie Zhang | Xiaojie Zhang | Central South University, China | Microbiological Research | 101 | 10.1016/j.micres.2024.127858 |
| 15 | Targeting Lactobacillus johnsonii to reverse chronic kidney disease | Hua Miao, Fei Liu, Yan-Ni Wang, Xiao-Yong Yu, Shougang Zhuang, Yan Guo, Nosratola D Vaziri, Shi-Xing Ma, Wei Su, You-Quan Shang, Ming Gao, Jin-Hua Zhang, Li Zhang, Ying-Yong Zhao, Gang Cao | Fei Liu, Ying‐Yong Zhao, Gang Cao | Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, China | Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy | 94 | 10.1038/s41392-024-01913-1 |
| 16 | Lithocholic acid phenocopies anti-ageing effects of calorie restriction | Qi Qu, Yan Chen, Yu Wang, Shating Long, Weiche Wang, Heng-Ye Yang, Mengqi Li, Xiao Tian, Xiaoyan Wei, Yan-Hui Liu, Shengrong Xu, Cixiong Zhang, Mingxia Zhu, Sin Man Lam, Jianfeng Wu, Chuyu Yun, Junjie Chen, Shengye Xue, Baoding Zhang, Zhong-Zheng Zheng, Hai-Long Piao, Changtao Jiang, Hao Guo, Guanghou Shui, Xianming Deng, Chen-Song Zhang, Sheng-Cai Lin | Cixiong Zhang, Chen-Song Zhang, Sheng‐Cai Lin | Xiamen University, China | Nature | 84 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08329-5 |
| 17 | Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial | Shebani Sethi, Diane Wakeham, Terence Ketter, Farnaz Hooshmand, Julia Bjornstad, Blair Richards, Eric Westman, Ronald M Krauss, Laura Saslow | Shebani Sethi | Stanford Medicine, United States | Psychiatry Research | 81 | 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115866 |
| 18 | Dietaryindex: a user-friendly and versatile R package for standardizing dietary pattern analysis in epidemiological and clinical studies | Jiada J Zhan, Rebecca A Hodge, Anne L Dunlop, Matthew M Lee, Linh Bui, Donghai Liang, Erin P Ferranti | Jiada Zhan, Rebecca A. Hodge | Emory University, United States | American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | 81 | 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.08.021 |
| 19 | 5-year follow-up of the randomised Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) of continued support for weight loss maintenance in the UK: an extension study | Michael Ej Lean, Wilma S Leslie, Alison C Barnes, Naomi Brosnahan, George Thom, Louise McCombie, Tara Kelly, Keaton Irvine, Carl Peters, Sviatlana Zhyzhneuskaya, Kieren G Hollingsworth, Ashley J Adamson, Falko F Sniehotta, John C Mathers, Yvonne McIlvenna, Paul Welsh, Alex McConnachie, Alasdair McIntosh, Naveed Sattar, Roy Taylor | Michael EJ Lean | University of Glasgow, United Kingdom | The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology | 80 | 10.1016/s2213-8587(23)00385-6 |
| 20 | A brain-to-gut signal controls intestinal fat absorption | Qianqian Lyu, Wenzhi Xue, Ruixin Liu, Qinyun Ma, Vikram Babu Kasaragod, Shan Sun, Qian Li, Yanru Chen, Mingyang Yuan, Yuying Yang, Bing Zhang, Aifang Nie, Sheng Jia, Chongrong Shen, Po Gao, Weifang Rong, Chenxi Yu, Yufang Bi, Chunlei Zhang, Fajun Nan, Guang Ning, Zihe Rao, Xiuna Yang, Jiqiu Wang, Weiqing Wang | Jiqiu Wang, Weiqing Wang | Ruijin Hospital, China | Nature | 80 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07929-5 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

Gut microbiota dominates the research landscape in diet and metabolism, appearing in 34% of highly cited 2024 papers (17 out of 50 top publications). This strong representation underscores the central role of the intestinal microbiome in regulating metabolic homeostasis, energy balance, and systemic health. Interconnected metabolic sub-themes feature prominently across the cohort, including host-microbiome interactions (12%), microbial metabolism (10%), microbial metabolites (10%), and the gut-brain axis (8%). Dietary interventions and pharmacological strategies focus heavily on managing metabolic disorders such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD/MASLD, 10%), type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Notably, ketogenic diets (10%), high-fat diet models (8%), and GLP-1 receptor agonists (8%) represent primary experimental and therapeutic modalities in the top literature. Emerging mechanistic areas include intestinal lipid absorption (8%), tryptophan metabolism (8%), and fiber fermentation (6%), reflecting a clear research pivot toward identifying specific biochemical pathways and metabolite mediators that connect dietary inputs to host metabolic responses.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing the Class of 2025 (2023 publications) to the Class of 2026 (2024 publications) reveals a clear transition from general metabolite profiling toward specific metabolic pathways and gut-targeted mechanisms. The fastest-growing concepts include microbial metabolism (+8 percentage points, expanding 5-fold from 2% to 10%), intestinal lipid absorption (+8 p.p., reaching 8%), and tryptophan metabolism (+8 p.p., reaching 8%). Fiber fermentation also gained momentum (+6 p.p.), alongside ketogenic diet studies (+6 p.p., rising to 10%), highlighting increased interest in targeted nutritional strategies. Conversely, broad descriptive concepts saw marked declines. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) experienced the largest drop (-18 p.p.), falling from 22% (11 papers) in 2023 to 4% (2 papers) in 2024. General mentions of type 2 diabetes (-8 p.p.), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (-4 p.p.), and caloric restriction (-4 p.p.) also contracted as researchers focused on specific therapeutic agents like GLP-1 receptor agonists and precise molecular mechanisms. Overall, the field is evolving from broad observational microbiome cataloging toward mechanistic studies of diet-host-microbiome cross-talk.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Diet and metabolism studies Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/diet-and-metabolism-studies/2026. Accessed 2026-07-22.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
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