Topic: Molecular Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Disease

Cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), including cardiovascular disease, obesity, MASLD/MASH, prediabetes and diabetes mellitus, are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Cardiometabolic multimorbidity poses a substantial health burden, particularly among middle-aged and older adults. Conventional risk factors cannot fully explain the development and progression of CMD, highlighting the need for novel molecular biomarkers to improve risk prediction. Importantly, biological aging contributes to cardiometabolic dysfunction through mechanisms including cellular senescence, chronic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic dysregulation and epigenetic alterations. Molecular biomarkers reflecting these aging-related processes may provide new insights into individual differences in disease susceptibility and progression, enabling more precise risk stratification beyond conventional risk factors.

This Special Issue focuses on the discovery, validation and clinical translation of molecular biomarkers associated with cardiometabolic disease and biological aging, with particular emphasis on cellular senescence and age-related molecular mechanisms. It will explore biomarkers linked to inflammation, fibrosis, immune responses, endothelial dysfunction and senescence, as well as advances in multi-omics approaches, including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, to uncover novel molecular signatures of cardiometabolic aging.

Particular attention will be given to integrating molecular biomarkers with biological aging measures to advance precision risk stratification, early disease detection and personalized prevention and treatment. Studies investigating the clinical utility of aging-related molecular signatures in identifying high-risk individuals, predicting disease progression and guiding individualized interventions are especially encouraged. Original research, clinical and observational studies, meta-analyses, and narrative and systematic reviews addressing molecular biomarkers at the intersection of biological aging, cardiometabolic disease and precision risk stratification are welcome.