Comprehensive microbial and clinical profiling of functional constipation: A stratified comparative study of age and constipation subtype

Figure 1 Comparison of gut microbiota profiles between functional constipation and healthy control groups. A: Comparison of α-diversity indices between the two groups, including Chao1, richness, Shannon, and Simpson indices; B: Β-diversity analysis of gut microbiota composition between the two groups; C: Volcano plot of differential gut microbiota at the order level between the two groups; D: Volcano plot of differential gut microbiota at the family level between the two groups; E: Volcano plot of differential gut microbiota at the genus level between the two groups. ^aP < 0.05. ^cP < 0.001. FC: Functional constipation; HC: Healthy control; PCo: Principal co-ordinates; FDR: False discovery rate; DE: Differentially enriched.

Figure 2 Comparison of gut microbiota profiles among different age groups. A: Comparison of α-diversity among different age groups, including Chao1, richness, Shannon, and Simpson indices; B: Β-diversity analysis of gut microbiota composition; C: Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis identifying taxa with significantly different relative abundances among groups. ^aP < 0.05. ^bP < 0.01. ^cP < 0.001. Y: Young; M: Middle-aged; O: Older; PCo: Principal co-ordinates; LDA: Linear discriminant analysis.

Figure 3 Correlation analysis of age-specific differential genera with clinical features and microbial co-occurrence networks. A: Correlation analysis between age-specific differential genera and clinical parameters; B: Microbial co-occurrence network in young group; C: Microbial co-occurrence network in middle-aged group; D: Microbial co-occurrence network in older group. ^aP < 0.05. ^bP < 0.01. ^cP < 0.001. MARP: Maximum anal resting pressure; MERP: Mean anal resting pressure; ARR: Anal relaxation rate; KESS: Knowles Eccersley Scott symptom; PAC-QOL: Patient assessment of constipation quality of life; SAS: Self-rating anxiety scale; SDS: Self-rating depression scale.

Figure 4 Comparison of gut microbiota profiles among different functional constipation subtypes. A: Comparison of α-diversity among functional constipation (FC) subtypes, including Chao1, richness, Shannon, and Simpson indices; B: Β-diversity analysis of gut microbiota composition among different FC subtypes; C: Β-diversity analysis of gut microbiota composition between slow-transit constipation group and defecatory disorder group; D: Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis identifying taxa with significantly different relative abundances among groups. ^aP < 0.05. STC: Slow-transit constipation; DD: Defecatory disorder; MC: Mixed constipation; PCo: Principal co-ordinates; LDA: Linear discriminant analysis.