Enrichment Analysis on Differential Metabolites
A total of 211 statistically significant differential metabolites (VIP>1, p<0.05) were detected, including 128 upregulated metabolites and 83 downregulated metabolites in the VVC group compared to the CTL group. The 50 highest differential metabolites were identified and were plotted in a heat map to show the differentiation among the groups (Fig. 3A). All metabolites were visualized in a volcano plot (p<0.05, fold change>1.4 or<0.7) to screen differential metabolites between the CTL and VVC groups (Fig. 3B). Red and blue represent significantly increased and decreased metabolites in VVC group, respectively; insignificant metabolites were portrayed as gray. In addition, the identified differential metabolites were broadly classified into 15 categories, mainly containing amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, organic dicarboxylic acids, fatty acyl carnitines, and so on (Fig. 3C).