Multi-omics integration predicts the incidence of 17 diseases in the UK Biobank

Multi-omics technologies, such as metabolomics and proteomics, offer deep molecular perspectives that could enhance risk prediction, but large-scale studies integrating both are scarce. Here we show the predictive values of these two omics across 17 incident diseases in 23,776 UK Biobank participants with complete baseline for 159 NMR-based metabolites and 2,923 Olink affinity-based proteins. We found that adding omics data significantly improved risk prediction for all 17 diseases compared to clinical predictors alone. Proteomics-only models generally outperformed metabolomics-only models for 16 of the 17 diseases, and integrating both omics added little prediction power over proteomics-only models. Furthermore, we identified key omics features, including both well-established (e.g., KLK3/PSA for prostate cancer) and potential novel ones (e.g., PRG3 for skin cancer). We further connected diseases with medication and socioeconomic factors through key proteins, highlighting the clinical utility of omics data for enhancing individual risk prediction, providing molecular insights into disease mechanisms, and potentially guiding future therapeutic development.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-05-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73017-z
Primary Topic
Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Multi-omics integration predicts the incidence of 17 diseases in the UK Biobank

Hanling Wang, Muqing Zhou, Ruihai Zhou, Laura M. Raffield et al.
Nature Communications
Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
article

Multi-omics integration predicts the incidence of 17 diseases in the UK Biobank

Hanling Wang, Muqing Zhou, Ruihai Zhou, Laura M. Raffield, Jiawen Du, Can Chen, Yun Li, Quan Sun, Jianqiao Wang
article en

Abstract

Multi-omics technologies, such as metabolomics and proteomics, offer deep molecular perspectives that could enhance risk prediction, but large-scale studies integrating both are scarce. Here we show the predictive values of these two omics across 17 incident diseases in 23,776 UK Biobank participants with complete baseline for 159 NMR-based metabolites and 2,923 Olink affinity-based proteins. We found that adding omics data significantly improved risk prediction for all 17 diseases compared to clinical predictors alone. Proteomics-only models generally outperformed metabolomics-only models for 16 of the 17 diseases, and integrating both omics added little prediction power over proteomics-only models. Furthermore, we identified key omics features, including both well-established (e.g., KLK3/PSA for prostate cancer) and potential novel ones (e.g., PRG3 for skin cancer). We further connected diseases with medication and socioeconomic factors through key proteins, highlighting the clinical utility of omics data for enhancing individual risk prediction, providing molecular insights into disease mechanisms, and potentially guiding future therapeutic development.

Nature Communications
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US), University of North Carolina Health Care (US), Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US), University of North Carolina System (US), University of Pennsylvania (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
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