VOLARE

VOLARE visualizes and analyzes pairwise linear relationships between microbiome features (e.g., 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing) and immune system readouts (e.g., CyTOF immunophenotyping and cytokine measurements) to identify candidate microbe–immune associations.

Key Features:

• Pairwise linear regressions: Performs pairwise linear regressions between microbial and immune features and produces a ranked top table of candidate associations.
• Inline fitted-model graphs: Generates small inline graphs that illustrate fitted regression models at the summary level.
• Detailed regression plots: Produces sample-level regression plots showing individual data points and fitted curves for candidate relationships.
• Network summaries: Constructs network summaries that represent relationships identified in the top table.
• Data integration: Integrates microbial readouts (16S rRNA sequencing) with immune readouts (CyTOF immunophenotyping and cytokine measurements) for joint analysis.

Scientific Applications:

• HIV microbiome–cytokine analysis: Analysis of microbiome and cytokine data from fecal samples in HIV studies.
• Inflammatory bowel disease and spondyloarthritis: Examination of microbiome–cytokine interactions relevant to these inflammatory conditions.
• Gut biopsy microbiome–immune cell analysis in HIV: Investigation of microbiome–immune cell associations in gut biopsy samples from HIV research.

Methodology:

Pairwise linear regressions between microbial features (from 16S rRNA sequencing) and immune features (from CyTOF immunophenotyping and cytokine measurements) generate a top table of candidate associations and are visualized as inline fitted-model graphs, network summaries, and detailed sample-level regression plots.