Sixteen of the 28 participants had previously been enrolled in the control (probiotic-only, non-prebiotic) arm of a completed, registered randomized trial of pre-/probiotic supplementation after RYGB at the same institution (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03517345); these participants received no prebiotic intervention. The remaining 12 participants underwent RYGB by the same surgeon during a comparable period and were not enrolled in that trial. Blood samples from both subgroups had originally been collected and stored at -80°C as part of their respective prospective clinical follow-up. FABP4 concentrations were subsequently measured in these banked, single freeze-thaw samples using a commercial ELISA assay, blinded to patients' weight-loss and inflammatory outcomes, and merged with the anthropometric and biochemical data collected at the corresponding original visits. Because FABP4 assay and the present statistical analysis were performed after clinical follow-up had already been completed for both subgroups, this study is registered retrospectively.
