肠道菌群β多样性分析：PCoA与NMDS方法在中医药研究中的关键技术解析

In terms of beta diversity and overall structure of the gut microbiota, PCoA and NMDS analyses based on Bray-Curtis distances showed that the sample points from the MC group and the NC group were intermixed along the coordinate axes, with no clear clustering or separation trends, and did not form distinct inter-group clusters. In the PCoA analysis, PCoA1 explained 14.95% of the variance, and PCoA2 explained 8.88%, indicating that the principal components did not reach a high level of explanatory power. This suggests that the high heterogeneity commonly observed in gut microbiota was present, and the overlapping distribution of sample points indicates no significant differences in community structure between the two groups. The stress value (Stress) in the NMDS analysis was <0.2, confirming the reliability of these results. The diversity and overall structure of the gut microbiota in both groups of patients were comparable at baseline, providing a solid foundation for evaluating the intervention effects of Bu Xu Ping Chuan膏 (a traditional Chinese medicine formulation).