Table 1.
Characteristics of the control and study group according to sex, age, disease activity, medical therapies, and selected inflammatory and nutritional indices.
| Parameter | Controls | CD Patients | UC Patients | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases | 57 | 47 | 71 | |
| Sex (F/M) | 27/30 | 23/24 | 31/40 | 0.837 Χ2 |
| Age [years] | 42 (35–50.4) | 40 (30.6–42.7) | 46 (36.1–50.2) | 0.260 K |
| Active disease, n (%) | - | 37 (78.7) | 30 (42.3%) | <0.001 F |
| CS, n (%) | - | 20 (42.6) | 23 (32.4) | 0.329 F |
| AZA, n (%) | - | 19 (40.4) | 15 (21.1) | 0.037 F |
| BMI [kg/m2] | 25 (21.7–28.2) | 23.1 (21.4–24.7) | 23.5 (22.4–24.6) | 0.445 A |
| ALB [g/dL] | 4.77 (4.7–4.9) a,b | 4.23 (4.1–4.4) b,c | (4.48 (4.4–4.6) a,c | <0.001 A |
| hsCRP [mg/L] | 1.84 (0.84–4.95) a,b | 52.9 (17.4–99.3) c | 25 (13.8–43.5) c | <0.0001 K |
| HGB [g/dL] | 13.2 (12.3–15) | 12.1 (11.4–12.6) | 12.8 (12.2–13.5) | 0.084 K |
| Iron [μM] | 18.6 (15.7–21.4) a,b | 10.8 (8–12.5) b,c | 15.5 (13.4–17.6) a,c | <0.0001 K |
| ESR [mm/hr] | 9 (7.2–15) a | 20 (16.8–26.5) b | 14.5 (11.7–22) | 0.018 K |
| PLT [×103/mm3] | 250 (216–320) a | 367 (330–411) b,c | 292 (276–316) a | 0.011 K |
| WBC [×103/mm3] | 6 (5.47–6.61) | 6.35 (5.6–8.16) | 6.4 (5.8–7.53) | 0.474 K |
| IL-1 [pg/mL] | 0.79 (0.31–1.71) | 0.93 (0.59–1.37) | 0.94 (0.7–1.41) | 0.550 K |
| IL-6 [pg/mL] | 0.77 (0.68–1.14) a,b | 2.57 (1.83–3.84) c | 1.99 (1.23–2.82) c | <0.0001 K |
| TNF [pg/mL] | 0.83 (0.4–1.44) | 0.77 (0.37–1.04) | 0.53 (0.35–0.94) | 0.914 K |
If not otherwise stated, data presented as medians with 95% CI. and data on BMI and ALB as means with 95% CI. CD, Crohn’s disease; UC, ulcerative colitis; F, females; M, males; CS, corticosteroids; AZA, azathioprine; BMI, body mass index; ALB, albumins; hsCRP, high-sensitive C-reactive protein; HGB, hemoglobin; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; PLT, platelets; WBC, white blood cell; IL-1; interleukin-1; IL-6, interleukin-6; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; a, significantly different from CD; b, significantly different from UC; c, significantly different from controls; Χ2, Chi-square test; F, Fisher’s exact test; K, Kruskal-Wallis H test. A, one-way ANOVA.