Metabonomics is an –omics approach to identify and monitor metabolic characteristics, changes, and phenotypes with respect to various synergetic factors such as environment, life-style, diet, as well as potential pathophysiological processes. Mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy have become the two key experimental technologies in the field. Recent advancements are numerous and methodologies currently exist that allow for automated high-throughput experimentation in a cost-effective manner. Together with the clinical problematics that single biomarkers and thresholds are deficient in describing complex molecular foundations of various diseases, the technical developments have evoked an increasing number of metabonomics applications in clinical and epidemiological disciplines. It has also been envisioned that metabonomics approaches may overtake standard analytical measurements of individual metabolites and eventually lead to holistic multimetabolic risk phenotyping in the early detection of high-risk individuals for various metabolic diseases.

The main focus of this special issue will be particularly on the applications of metabonomics in clinical and epidemiological research. We invite authors to present original research articles as well as reviews and opinions, for example, on the following topics:

• Applications of metabonomics, metabolomics, and metabolic profiling in clinical medicine and epidemiology
• Personal opinions on the rationales for metabonomic approaches and metabolic profiling in clinical medicine and epidemiology
• Applications of metabonomics to study common metabolic diseases (e.g., atherosclerosis, micro- and macrovascular problematics, diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome)
• Metabolic profiling and risk assessment
• Translational research and animal studies
• Related bioinformatics, for example, data quality issues, various data processing methods, quantification, and data visualization
• Related technical issues, for example, high-throughput technologies, sample handling, automation, databases, and data sharing

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbb/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: