Table 1.

Scoring system for the disease activity index (DAI). The degrees of body weight loss, stool consistency and occult/gross blood in stools were quantified as described. The DAI was calculated as the sum of the three scores [28,29].

Score	Weight loss (%)	Stool consistency	Occult/gross blood in stools
0	≤ 1	Normal stool (well-formed pellets)	Normal (no blood in stools)
1	1 <≤ 5
2	5 <≤ 10	Loose stools (pasty and semiformed stools that did not adhere to the anus)	Positive occult blood in stools
3	10 <≤ 20
4	20 <	Diarrhoea (liquid stools that adhere to the anus)	Gross bleeding in stools