Rutter and Benninger discuss the role of putative controlling beta-cell populations in the context of intra-islet connectivity, how such a cellular hierarchy might be achieved and its potential role in islet physiology and diabetes.

Job Title: Associate or Senior Editor (Nature Metabolism and Nature Communications) Location(s): New York, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Beijing or Shanghai Application Deadline: October 26th, 2025 About...

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 07 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01382-yA 12-month multicentre randomized clinical trial finds that replacing added sugar in foods and beverages with sweeteners and sweetness enhancers supports modest weight loss maintenance and alters gut microbiota composition, with no safety concerns identified.

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 07 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01381-zThe SWEET project is a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial that shows that long-term consumption of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers improves body weight control and elicits beneficial gut microbiota changes in adults with overweight or obesity.

Holst reflects on the development of GLP-1-based drugs for the therapy of obesity, from early observations to remarkable results in more recent clinical trials, discussing physiological, pharmacological and clinical considerations related to their use.

Breit and Tsai provide a concise overview of the role of GDF15 as a signalling molecule in the context of metabolic health and disease.

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 30 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01367-xSaber et al. show that the lipase DDHD2 provides endogenous saturated fatty acids to support fatty acid oxidation and energy production, proteostasis and membrane trafficking balance.

Dietary cysteine enhances intestinal stem cell-mediated intestinal repair following injury by promoting CD8 T cell-regenerative immune responses.

The authors highlight inconsistencies and divergencies in the literature reporting data on indirect calorimetry for studies on whole-body energy homeostasis, and propose harmonization of standards to facilitate data comparison and interpretation across different datasets.

This authoritative Perspective lays a foundation for the field of obesity research by comparing commonalities and differences between competing models of obesity pathogenesis and by defining terms that are at the core of this discussion.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are now recognized as powerful modulators of metabolism, and thus the new field of EV-mediated metabolic regulation is growing exponentially. Here, we discuss special experimental considerations for the study of EV function in metabolism.

McGettrick et al. provide a succinct yet broad overview of the immunometabolite itaconate as an immunomodulatory molecule.

Despite the high utility and widespread use of Cre driver lines, lack of Cre specificity, Cre-induced toxicity or poor experimental design can affect experimental results and conclusions. Such pitfalls must be considered before embarking on any Cre-based studies in metabolic research.

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 26 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01361-3In this issue of Nature Metabolism, Wang et al. identified a non-apoptotic caspase-8 function in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), in which hepatocyte-derived caspase-8 induces meteorin, which in turn activates hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to drive fibrosis. This function reveals a potential therapeutic target to directly address fibrosis and reduce the progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 26 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01355-1Hepatocyte caspase-8 in MASH promotes the activation of hepatic stellate cells and liver fibrosis through an apoptosis-independent mechanism

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 02 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01395-7The recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have created both intrigue and apprehension in the world of research. In this Viewpoint, we asked 12 experts in the field of metabolism to share their — differing — opinions on the use of AI in pre-clinical and clinical metabolic research.

The authors provide an update on the most useful biomarkers in urine and blood for assessing food intake, and delineate strategies that may accelerate the application of biomarkers of food intake for improving human nutritional research.

In this Review, the authors provide a detailed overview of insulin signalling and its dysfunction, highlighting new therapeutic opportunities.

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 25 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01383-xThe glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) class of medicines has emerged as transformative for the treatment of diabetes, obesity and other diseases. On the twentieth anniversary of the approval of exenatide (Byetta), three former employees of Amylin Pharmaceuticals acknowledge the contributions of some of the individuals and the innovation responsible for delivering the first approved GLP-1RA — the forerunner to the modern blockbuster drugs.

Nature Metabolism, Published online: 24 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42255-025-01360-4The authors highlight inconsistencies and divergencies in the literature reporting data on indirect calorimetry for studies on whole-body energy homeostasis, and propose harmonization of standards to facilitate data comparison and interpretation across different datasets.

Social media has become a go-to source for nutritional advice, and a space in which influencers compete with, and often drown out, evidence-based guidance. The scientific community should counter this viral spread of misinformation by making trustworthy information more accessible.

This Review provides an overview of the interplay between host diet and the gut microbiota, and how this affects brain function.

Time-restricted eating has become a popular diet for weight management and has spurred tremendous interest in the scientific community. The translation of results from TRE trials heavily depends on trial design. In this Comment, we provide general guidelines on optimizing the design and performance of time-restricted eating trials in human participants.