Discuss Microbial Diversity and Composition in Six Different Gastrointestinal Sites among Participants Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Henan, China

NOTE 1

The reason for the condition name

The gastrointestinal tract includes organs that food and liquids travel through when they are swallowed, digested, absorbed, and leave the body as feces. These organs include the mouth, pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus. The gastrointestinal tract is part of the digestive system. Also called alimentary tract and digestive tract.

NOTE 2

Reason for multiple experiments

Experiments 1 through 15 involve comparing microbial diversity and composition across six different gastrointestinal (GI) sites. The decision to conduct 15 experiments stems from the analysis presented in Figure 1. In this figure, each GI site is compared to all others, necessitating a pairwise comparison of each site against the rest.

NOTE 3

Regarding the non-cardia body site

The stomach is an organ in the upper abdomen. It can be divided into the cardia and the non-cardia which includes the fundus, the body, the antrum, and the pylorus. Since non-cardia wasn't found in the list of body sites, I opted for a more general name Body of stomach which best describes the non-cardia part of the stomach.

NOTE 4

For sample size in experiment 16 and 17 

Total number of participants = 40
Number of healthy participants = 22
Number of participants with esophagitis = 18
Half of the healthy participants have H. pylori infection, so it would be 22 / 2 = 11.
Half of the participants with esophagitis also have H. pylori infection, so it would be 18 / 2 = 9.

Therefore, the total number of participants with H. pylori infection is 11 (healthy) + 9 (esophagitis) = 20.

Hence, the sample size for participants that tested positive for H. pylori infection in this study is 20 and the sample size for participants that tested negative for H. pylori infection in this study is also 20.

NOTE 5

The sample size of each group according to Table 1 includes:

Specified

H Group: Higher pH = 12
P Group: H. pylori positive = 20
L Group: Lower pH = 28
N Group: H. pylori negative = 20

Unspecified

HP Group: Higher pH and H. pylori positive = ??
HN Group: Higher pH and H. pylori negative = ??
LP Group: Lower pH and H. pylori positive = ??
LN Group: Lower pH and H. pylori negative = ??