Fig. 1

Exploration of possible causative pathogen of Granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM). a Relative abundance of bacteria in different breast samples. b Comparison of the alpha-diversity and Shannon index values of the bacteria in different breast samples. Data are expressed as median + interquartile range (IQR), and statistical significance was calculated using the Wilcoxon rank sum test with the Bonferroni method for multiple testing correction. c Principal coordinate analysis of the microbiota based on Bray‒Curtis heterogeneity of bacteria from different breast samples. d Linear discriminant analysis effect size of the bacterial microbiota in different breast samples. g: genus, c: class, f: family, s: species, d: domain. e Relative abundance of bacteria in the pus and breast tissues of 11 patients with GLM. f The relative abundances of Escherichia fergusonii, Corynebacterium kroppenstedtii, and Acinetobacter lwoffi in the pus and breast tissues of 11 patients with GLM. Data are expressed as the median + IQR, and a paired Wilcoxon rank sum test was performed for comparison. g Gram staining results of tissue sections from patients with GLM