Gut Microbiome Predicts Insulin Resistance Severity

In a 2026 Frontiers in Nutrition study, researchers analyzed stool 16S rRNA sequencing and blood metabolic markers from 116 Chinese participants to test whether gut microbiome signatures classify insulin resistance severity using XGBoost machine learning. The METS-IR–based classifier achieved an area under the curve of 0.84, and patients showed lower short-chain-fatty-acid producers (Bacteroides 9.39% versus 25.33%) and higher Escherichia-Shigella abundances. Findings support microbiome-informed metabolic risk stratification while noting the need for longitudinal and interventional validation.