Table 1.
Patient/control and disease characteristics
| UC | CD | IBS | HC | |
| No | 96 | 84 | 62 | 180 |
| Age, yr (mean ± SD) | 50.2 ± 13.4 | 42.3 ± 15.6 | 49 ± 19.4 | 46.7 ± 12.3 |
| Age at onset | ||||
| ≥ 40 yr | - | 15 | - | - |
| < 40 yr | - | 69 | - | - |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 60 | 45 | 36 | 114 |
| Female | 36 | 39 | 26 | 66 |
| Current smoking | ||||
| Yes | 24 | 57 | 39 | 93 |
| No | 72 | 27 | 23 | 87 |
| Disease extent (UC) | ||||
| Proctitis | 16 | - | - | - |
| Left-sided colitis | 28 | - | - | - |
| Pancolitis | 52 | - | - | - |
| Disease location (CD) | ||||
| Upper GI involvement | - | 11 | - | - |
| Ileum | - | 32 | - | - |
| Colon | - | 10 | - | - |
| Ileocolon | - | 41 | - | - |
| Disease behavior (CD) | ||||
| NS/NP | - | 49 | - | - |
| Stricturing | - | 20 | - | - |
| Penetrating | - | 15 | - | - |
| Extraintestinal manifestations | ||||
| None | 69 | 33 | - | - |
| ≥1 | 27 | 51 | - | - |
| Treatment for remission | ||||
| 5-ASA | 94 | 82 | - | - |
| Corticosteroids | 45 | 60 | - | - |
| Immunosuppressants | 18 | 30 | - | - |
| Anti- TNFα | 3 | 24 | - | - |
| Surgery | 3 | 12 | - | - |
UC: Ulcerative colitis; CD: Crohn’s disease; IBS: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; HC: Healthy controls; GI: Gastrointestinal; NS/NP: Non stricturing/non penetrating; ASA: Aminosalicylates; TNFα: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha.