Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells repair islet structure and function in diabetic rats through metabolic reprogramming

Figure 3 Correlation analysis of differential pancreatic metabolites between rats from different groups. A and B: Correlation heatmaps of differential metabolites for the indicated comparisons [A: Diabetes mellitus (DM) vs control; B: DM + human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) vs DM], with red and green representing positive and negative correlations, respectively, and color intensity scaled to the absolute value of the sample correlation coefficient; C and D: Correlation chord diagrams for differential metabolites in the indicated comparisons (C: DM vs control; D: DM + hUC-MSCs vs DM), with dot size proportional to log₂FC, dot color indicating metabolite class, and red and blue lines representing positive and negative correlations, respectively; E and F: Correlation network diagrams of differential metabolites for the indicated comparisons (E: DM vs control; F: DM + hUC-MSCs vs DM). Nodes represent metabolites, with node size reflecting the degree value. Red and blue lines denote positive and negative correlations, respectively, and line thickness is proportional to correlation strength. Only the top 50 metabolites (ranked by variable importance projection) are displayed in all correlation heatmaps, chord diagrams, and network diagrams. Control, n = 8; DM, n = 6; DM + hUC-MSCs, n = 5. DM: Diabetes mellitus; hUC-MSCs: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells; VIP: Variable importance projection.