The study of human multifactorial diseases like insulin resistance, or complex biological processes such as ageing, represent a real healthcare challenge for the western and developing world. In this regard, high-throughput “-omics” biotechnologies like genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics are invaluable tools for investigating insulin resistance-related (type 2 diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases) and ageing-related pathologies. Integration of metabolic profiles with genome-wide genotyping2, 3 and expression profiling data provides a platform to identify biomarkers and susceptibility genes for pathological components of the cardio-metabolic syndrome± (glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity) through the combined use of physiological methods, functional genomic technologies and bioinformatic tools applied to the study of rodent models of the human disease.