Influence of mode of delivery on infant gut microbiota composition: a pilot study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of the study. CS: caesarean section; N: number; VD: vaginal delivery.

Table 1. Characteristics of infants included in the study.

	CS group	VD group	p value
Number	10	10
Gestational age at birth (weeks)	39.00 ± 1.05	39.00 ± 1.25	1.000
Maternal age (years)	27.10 ± 2.96	28.60 ± 4.60	0.397
Infant birth weight (kg)	3.22 ± 0.38	3.23 ± 0.19	0.924
Infant birth height (cm)	49.40 ± 2.22	49.40 ± 0.97	1.000
Infant head circumference (cm)	33.60 ± 1.17	33.90 ± 0.74	0.503
Infant age (months)	1.90 ± 1.10	2.40 ± 1.43	0.392
Infant sex (F/M)	3/7	3/7	1.000

Note: Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation or number.

Abbreviation: CS: caesarean section; F: female; M: male; VD: vaginal delivery.

Figure 2. Gut microbial alpha diversity and beta diversity in the CS (A) and VD (B) groups.Ace: abundance based coverage estimator; PC: principal component; PCoA: principal co-ordinates analysis. (a) Distribution of ace estimator, (b) Distribution of Simpson’s diversity index, (c) Principal coordinate analysis based on weight, (d) Weighted UniFrac metrics of faecal samples in the two groups.

Table 2. Adonis analysis based on the Bray-Curtis.

	F	R^2	p value
Mode of delivery	1.0567	0.05545	0.407
Gestational age at birth	1.3013	0.06742	0.236
Maternal age	1.1968	0.06235	0.292
Infant birth weight	1.1999	0.0625	0.292
Infant birth height	1.6633	0.08459	0.104
Infant head circumstance	0.74651	0.03982	0.665
Infant age	0.85257	0.04522	0.583
Infant sex	1.6977	0.08619	0.075

Abbreviation: F: F test value; R²: R square.

Figure 3. Diagram of species differences between groups according to t-test at phylum (a) and family (b) levels. A: CS group, B: VD group.

Table 3. Relative abundance of dominant bacterial taxa in the CS and VD groups.

Taxonomy	CS group(%)(N = 10)	VD group(%)(N = 10)	p value
Phylum
Bacillota	40.51 ± 32.77	75.57 ± 27.83	0.019
Pseudomonadota	44.15 ± 33.05	15.62 ± 15.60	0.028
Bacteroidota	14.98 ± 25.65	4.17 ± 8.77	0.233
Verrucomicrobiota	NA	2.76 ± 8.73	0.343
Actinomycetota	0.35 ± 0.57	1.87 ± 5.55	0.410
Unidentified bacteria	0.01 ± 0.04	NA	0.343
Acidobacteriota	NA	0.01 ± 0.01	0.193
Gemmatimonadota	NA	0.00 ± 0.01	0.343
Others	NA	0.00 ± 0.01	0.343
Families
Enterobacteriaceae	44.00 ± 33.11	15.31 ± 15.47	0.028
Streptococcaceae	12.56 ± 11.36	40.66 ± 41.14	0.063
Bacteroidaceae	13.30 ± 25.56	2.84 ± 6.90	0.239
Veillonellaceae	9.92 ± 20.55	3.87 ± 5.24	0.388
Staphylococcaceae	4.42 ± 11.64	4.64 ± 13.13	0.968
Lachnospiraceae	0.99 ± 3.13	4.50 ± 11.56	0.375
Unidentified Clostridiales	4.68 ± 9.18	0.69 ± 1.97	0.209
Akkermansiaceae	NA	2.76 ± 8.73	0.343
Micrococcaceae	0.22 ± 0.53	1.76 ± 5.49	0.399
Tannerellaceae	1.67 ± 4.29	1.31 ± 4.15	0.851
Genus
Unidentified Enterobacteriaceae	19.76 ± 31.22	10.91 ± 14.84	0.433
Streptococcus	12.56 ± 11.36	40.66 ± 41.14	0.063
Klebsiella	24.17 ± 32.34	4.32 ± 10.23	0.092
Bacteroides	13.30 ± 25.56	2.84 ± 6.90	0.239
Veillonella	9.92 ± 20.55	3.53 ± 5.26	0.363
Staphylococcus	4.42 ± 11.64	4.64 ± 13.13	0.968
Unidentified Clostridiales	4.60 ± 9.22	0.69 ± 1.97	0.220
Akkermansia	NA	2.76 ± 8.73	0.343
Lachnoclostridium	NA	2.09 ± 6.59	0.341
Rothia	0.22 ± 0.53	1.75 ± 5.50	0.404
Species
Escherichia coli	19.76 ± 31.22	10.90 ± 14.82	0.432
Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus	1.81 ± 3.81	23.05 ± 37.29	0.106
Klebsiella pneumoniae	24.17 ± 32.34	4.32 ± 10.23	0.092
Bacteroides fragilis	8.40 ± 25.49	2.74 ± 6.84	0.513
Staphylococcus epidermidis	4.40 ± 11.59	4.58 ± 12.99	0.975
Clostridium butyricum	3.15 ± 9.28	0.01 ± 0.03	0.313
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron	2.34 ± 7.40	0.05 ± 0.15	0.353
Parabacteroides distasonis	1.63 ± 4.28	1.28 ± 4.06	0.853
Bacteroides dorei	1.03 ± 3.23	0.03 ± 0.09	0.353
Ruminococcus gnavus	0.99 ± 3.13	0.87 ± 1.65	0.914

Note: Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation.

Abbreviation: CS: caesarean section; N: number; NA: not available; VD: vaginal delivery.

Figure 4. Cladogram plot (a) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) score plot (b) from LDA effect size algorithm (LEfSe) analysis of the intestinal microbiota composition in the CS (A) and VD (B) groups. Concentric rings from inside to outside represent phylum, class, order, family, and genus, in order. The red circle represents biomarkers in group A, and the green circle represents biomarkers in group B. LEfSe identifies the most differentially abundant taxa between the two groups. Enriched taxa in group A are indicated with a positive LDA score (red), and enriched taxa in group B have a negative score (green). The taxa that meet the LDA significant threshold exceeding four are shown. The length of the histogram represents the impact of different species (LDA score). A: CS group, B: VD group. LDA: linear discriminant analysis.

Data availability statement

The datasets that support the findings of the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.