Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study population
| HCs (n = 500) | ITB (n = 133) | CD (n = 128) | P-value | |
| Gender (Female/male) | 237/263 | 37/96 | 42/86 | 0.42 |
| Age of diagnosis (yr) | 38.5 ± 12.8 | 41.0 ± 17.2 | 37.4 ± 16.1 | 0.06 |
| Smokers, n (%) | 103/500 (20.6) | 32/133 (24.1) | 22/128 (17.2) | 0.22 |
| Drinkers, n (%) | 56/500 (11.2) | 17/133 (12.8) | 15/128 (11.7) | 0.85 |
| WBC (109/L) | 7.08 ± 4.0 | 7.95 ± 3.5 | 0.10 | |
| Hb, g/L | 113.56 ± 23.1 | 109.83 ± 25.8 | 0.28 | |
| ESR, mm/h | 37.43 ± 25.6 | 34.60 ± 25.6 | 0.50 | |
| PPD (positive), n (%) | 34/49 (69.4) | 11/35 (31.4) | 0.06 | |
| T-SPOT (positive), n (%) | 20/26 (76.9) | 3/27 (11.1) | 0.002 | |
| TB not examined | 58 | 62 | ||
| Abnormal lung imaging findings, n (%) | 50/133 (37.6) | 3/128 (2.3) | < 0.0001 | |
| Remission rate: n (%) | ||||
| 5-ASA | 77/128 (60.2) | |||
| Glucocorticoids | 31/128 (24.2) | |||
| Immunosuppressors | 5/128 (3.9) | |||
| Anti-TNF | 8/128 (6.2) | |||
| Non-remission | 7/128 (5.5) | |||
| Disease related surgery, n (%) | 21/133 (15.8) | 29/128 (22.7) | 0.21 | |
| Location of ITB, n (%) | ||||
| Small intestine | 11/133 (8.3) | |||
| Ileocecus | 77/133 (57.9) | |||
| Colon | 37/133 (27.8) | |||
| Data not available | 8/133 (6.0) | |||
| Location of CD, n (%) | ||||
| L1 ± L4 | 60/128 (46.9) | |||
| L2 ± L4 | 36/128 (28.1) | |||
| L3 ± L4 | 29/128 (22.7) | |||
| L4 | 3/128 (2.3) | |||
| Behavior of CD, n (%) | ||||
| B1—Inflammatory | 81/128 (63.3) | |||
| B2—Stricturing | 37/128 (28.9) | |||
| B3—Penetrating | 10/128 (7.8) | |||
| p—Perianal | 35/128 (27.3) | |||
Smokers: Subjects who had smoked more than one cigarette per day for at least one year; Drinkers: Subjects who had drunk alcohol per week for more than six months; WBC: White blood cells; Hb: Haemoglobin; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; T-SPOT: T cell spot test; PPD: Purified protein derivative; 5-ASA: 5-Aminosalicylic acid; CD: Crohn’s disease; L1: Terminal ileum (phenotype defined by the Montreal Classification System); L2, Colonic; L3, Ileocolonic; L4: Upper gastrointestinal tract; TNF: tumour necrosis factor. Bold indicates the statistical significance (P < 0.05).