Fig. 4

The combination of C-section and cross-fostering showed more significant effects on gut microbiota and glycometabolic phenotypes in the offspring of the mHF group. a C-section and cross-fostering animal model and experimental design. b, c Curves of blood glucose levels and serum insulin levels during the OGTT and AUC, respectively. d Changes in blood glucose levels (% of initial) during the ITT and AUC. e, f The amount of insulin secretion at 3.3 mmol/L (low) and 16.7 mmol/L (high) glucose and GSI of islets isolated from pancreatic tissues of offspring of the mHF (HF and HF-CS-CF) and offspring of the mNC (NC and NC-CS-CF) groups, respectively. g, h Pdx-1 and MafA mRNA expression levels in pancreatic tissues of offspring of the mHF (HF and HF-CS-CF) and mNC (NC and NC-CS-CF) groups, respectively. Data are presented as the mean ± SD; *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. i Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of the four offspring groups on the first two principal coordinates was performed based on the Jaccard distance. Comparisons were performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test for significant differences; *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. j Identification of major amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) contributing to the differences in the gut microbiota of offspring groups by C-section combined with cross-fostering using LEfSe. k, l Volcano plots represent the differences in offspring faecal metabolites induced by C-section combined with cross-fostering in offspring of the mNC or mHF group. m Spearman’s correlation network of the gut microbiota, faecal metabolites and glycometabolic profiles in the context of offspring. The colour represents positive (red) or negative (blue) correlations. HF (n=10): offspring delivered by the mHF group; NC (n=10): offspring delivered by the mNC group. HF-CS-CF (n=7); offspring born to mHF by C-section and cross-fostered by the mNC group; NC-CS-CF (n=10): offspring born to mNC by C-section and cross-fostered by the mHF group