Fig. 5: Microbiota development trajectories, determinants, and associations with health outcomes.

Transitions between microbiota community types (C1:green, C2:blue, C3: orange, C4: red) by trajectory (a–e). Comparison between the trajectories (T1: blue, T2:green T3: violet, T4: yellow, T5: red) and average gut microbiota composition in global reference data representing 30 studies from 5732 infants divided into the normal (born vaginally, not exposed to antibiotics, and breastfed), and the compromised group (C-section born, antibiotic exposed or not breastfed)⁸. The trend line amd 95% confidence interval (shaded area) are obtained from a regression model with the third degree polynomial of log-transformed age, weighted by the size of the cohort. f The global data are cross-sectional averages, and thus represent very broad general patterns. Associations between trajectories and infant exposures, based on c² test on contingency tables (g), and between trajectories and health outcomes using logistic regression model (h). P-values denoted by asterisks at the bottom of each panel: ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05. Adjustments were made for multiple comparisons for g, h.