Fig 1.
CONSORT flow diagram.
Table 1.
Laboratory evaluation of metabolic parameters at different study time points.
Fig 2.
Development of body mass index and alpha diversity indices over the study course.
Plots are portraying the changes of body mass index (BMI, left), Phylogenetic diversity (PD, middle) and Simpson diversity number (N2, right) at baseline/0 weeks, after six weeks of low-calorie formula diet and after regular food reintroduction at fifteen weeks. At each time point paired samples of 12 participants were evaluated. Samples corresponding to one individual are connected by a black line. + signs indicate the means. The decrease of BMI during the study was associated with an increase of PD. * indicates significant difference determined by Friedman test.
Fig 3.
Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity.
PCoA of 36 gut microbiota samples belonging to twelve participants at three different time points (baseline/0 weeks, six weeks and fifteen weeks). The two major PCo1 and PCo2 are shown. All samples are connected to the centroid (displayed as square) of their respective time point. The microbial communities shifted markedly between baseline and six weeks, then returned towards baseline after fifteen weeks.
Fig 4.
Taxon composition at baseline, 6 and 15 weeks after study launch.
Stacked bar plots portraying the average sample composition of the study group (n = 12) at baseline/0 weeks, after six weeks of low-calorie formula diet and after regular food reintroduction at fifteen weeks. Taxon abundance changes were most prominent at six weeks, but mostly not sustained at fifteen weeks.
Fig 5.
Genera with significantly different abundance between different time points.
Plots are portraying the relative abundance changes of the study group (n = 12) including all significantly altered genera at baseline/0 weeks, after six weeks of low-calorie formula diet and after regular food reintroduction at fifteen weeks. Samples corresponding to one individual are connected by a black line. At the end of the study, only abundance changes of Collinsella were sustained. inc. sed.: incertae sedis.