3.4. Gut Microbiota Modulation
To investigate the influence of probiotic supplementation on infant gut microbiota composition, we performed DNA extraction from fecal samples obtained from all study groups at month 4. The extracted DNA was subjected to thorough analysis using next-generation sequencing methods to provide detailed insights into the microbial community. Alpha diversity and beta diversity indexes were utilized to evaluate the species richness and evenness within the same group and between different groups, respectively. Notably, there were no statistically significant differences in either alpha or beta diversity observed between the placebo and probiotic groups (The infant gut microbiota in all study groups consisted predominantly of four dominant bacterial phyla: Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria, which collectively represented approximately 90% of the total microbial community (