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Fig. 5 | BMC Microbiology

Fig. 5

From: Weight shapes the intestinal microbiome in preterm infants: results of a prospective observational study

Fig. 5

Regression analyses of gut microbiota development and host maturity markers. a All 142 samples from all 4 timepoints were used for a linear regression analyses with the result of the difference between Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus (%) on the X-axis and either the infant weight measured in grams at the time of taking the sample on the left-Y-axis (blue) or the postconceptional age of an infant at the time of taking a sample on the right-Y-axis (red). The slope of regression analysis using weight (blue) was significantly non-zero (Y = 1.08X + 908, p < 0.0001) while the slope of the regression analysis using postconceptional age was not significantly non-zero (Y = 0.0012X + 28.92, p = 0.57). b A mixed effect regression modeling analysis of the main taxonomic groups of importance was performed to take the longitudinal and paired aspect of this dataset into account. This analysis shows that the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus are both significantly discriminating features in regards to weight, in opposite directions, but that they are not significantly associated with postconceptional age. Bacteroides was found to be discriminating feature in regards to postconceptional age but this is due to the association of Bacteroides with vaginal delivery, and the fact that vaginally delivered infants had a lower postconceptional age when born yet had a higher birthweight, on average, due to the underlying causes of prematurity. c & d When Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococcus were plotted in four weight groups, which were determined from the mixed effect regression modelling, significant differences were found between the different weight groups using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison test. A FDR corrected p value is shown, when below 0.05. Interquartile ranges are shown

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