Effect of electroacupuncture combined with Tuina therapy on gut microbiota in patients with knee osteoarthritis

Figure 1 Flowchart of the study. EA: Electroacupuncture; ET: Electroacupuncture combined with Tuina.

Figure 2 Trend chart of changes in visual analog scale scores. EA: Electroacupuncture; ET: Electroacupuncture combined with Tuina; VAS: Visual analog scale.

Figure 3 Analysis of gut microbial diversity. A: Alpha diversity metrics were quantified using Chao 1 index calculations; B: Beta diversity patterns were visualized through principal coordinates analysis. EA: Electroacupuncture; ET: Electroacupuncture combined with Tuina.

Figure 4 Differential analysis of phylum levels. A: Phylum-level compositional shifts in the electroacupuncture (EA) group's dominant gut microbiota (top 20 taxa) between before and after treatment; B: Phylum-level compositional shifts in the EA combined with Tuina group's dominant gut microbiota (top 20 taxa) between before and after treatment. EA: Electroacupuncture; ET: Electroacupuncture combined with Tuina.

Figure 5 Differential analysis of genus levels. A: Genus-level compositional shifts in the electroacupuncture (EA) group's dominant gut microbiota (top 20 taxa) between before and after treatment; B: Genus-level compositional shifts in the EA combined with Tuina group's dominant gut microbiota (top 20 taxa) between before and after treatment. EA: Electroacupuncture; ET: Electroacupuncture combined with Tuina.

Figure 6 Species difference analysis of gut microbiota before and after treatment. A: LEfSe-derived taxonomic discriminators (LDA score) illustrating microbial abundance divergence in the electroacupuncture (EA) group between before and after treatment; B: LEfSe-derived taxonomic discriminators (LDA score) illustrating microbial abundance divergence in the EA combined with Tuina group between before and after treatment. EA: Electroacupuncture; ET: Electroacupuncture combined with Tuina.

Figure 7 Enrichment analysis of gut microbiota species pathways in patients with knee osteoarthritis. A: Predicted abundance chart of MetaCy level 2 functional pathways; B: Predicted abundance chart of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes level 2 functional pathways. KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; KOA: Knee osteoarthritis.