Does #beauty have a dark side? Testing mediating pathways between engagement with beauty content on social media and cosmetic surgery consideration.

Beauty content on social media has grown exponentially, however research has yet to investigate its association with appearance concerns. This study drew on components of the tripartite influence model to test the associations between young women's engagement with beauty content on social media and cosmetic surgery consideration. A sample of 399 undergraduate women aged 17-25years (M = 19.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass-induced bacterial perturbation contributes to altered host-bacterial co-metabolic phenotype.

Background: Bariatric surgery, used to achieve effective weight loss in individuals with severe obesity, modifies the gut microbiota and systemic metabolism in both humans and animal models. The aim of the current study was to understand better the metabolic functions of the altered gut microbiome by conducting deep phenotyping of bariatric surgery patients and bacterial culturing to investigate causality of the metabolic observations.

Methods: Three bariatric cohorts (n = 84, n = 14 and n = 9) with patients who had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or laparoscopic gastric banding (LGB), respectively, were enrolled.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Outcomes Following Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Recurrent C. difficile Infection.

Background: Recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a clinical challenge. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has emerged as a recurrent CDI therapy. Anecdotal concerns exist regarding worsening of IBD activity; however, prospective data among IBD patients are limited.

Understanding the mechanisms of efficacy of fecal microbiota transplant in treating recurrent infection and beyond: the contribution of gut microbial-derived metabolites.

Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is a highly-effective therapy for recurrent infection (rCDI), and shows promise for certain non-CDI indications. However, at present, its mechanisms of efficacy have remained poorly understood. Recent studies by our laboratory have noted the particular key importance of restoration of gut microbe-metabolite interactions in the ability of FMT to treat rCDI, including the impact of FMT upon short chain fatty acid (SCFAs) and bile acid metabolism.

Effects of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation With Oral Capsules in Obese Patients.

Background & Aims: Studies in mice have shown that the intestinal microbiota can contribute to obesity via the anorexigenic gut hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) and bile acids, which affect lipid metabolism. We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled, pilot study of the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in obese, metabolically uncompromised patients.

Methods: We performed a double-blind study of 22 obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥5 kg/m) without a diagnosis of diabetes, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or metabolic syndrome.

Microbial bile salt hydrolases mediate the efficacy of faecal microbiota transplant in the treatment of recurrent infection.

Objective: Faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) effectively treats recurrent infection (rCDI), but its mechanisms of action remain poorly defined. Certain bile acids affect germination or vegetative growth. We hypothesised that loss of gut microbiota-derived bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) predisposes to CDI by perturbing gut bile metabolism, and that BSH restitution is a key mediator of FMT's efficacy in treating the condition.

Functional microbiomics: Evaluation of gut microbiota-bile acid metabolism interactions in health and disease.

There is an ever-increasing recognition that bile acids are not purely simple surfactant molecules that aid in lipid digestion, but are a family of molecules contributing to a diverse range of key systemic functions in the host. It is now also understood that the specific composition of the bile acid milieu within the host is related to the expression and activity of bacterially-derived enzymes within the gastrointestinal tract, as such creating a direct link between the physiology of the host and the gut microbiota. Coupled to the knowledge that perturbation of the structure and/or function of the gut microbiota may contribute to the pathogenesis of a range of diseases, there is a high level of interest in the potential for manipulation of the gut microbiota-host bile acid axis as a novel approach to therapeutics.