Soluble ST2: A new and promising activity marker in ulcerative colitis

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the patient groups n (%)

	IBD						Controls
	UC				CD		Non-IBD	HC
No. of patients	84				26		43	40
Female (%)	48 (57.1)				13 (50)		23 (53.4)	18 (45)
Age (mean ± SD, yr)	38 ± 12.6				42.6 ± 15.5		49.8 ± 18.3	30.8 ± 5.4
Location of disease
Ulcerative proctitis, E1	16 (19)
Left-sided colitis, E2	16 (19)
Extensive colitis, E3	52 (62)
Small bowel, L1					4 (15.5)
Colon, L2					15 (57.6)
Ileocolonic, L3					7 (26.9)
Disease behavior
Inflammatory					25 (96.1)
Stenosing					1 (3.9)
Penetrating					0
Index disease	0	1	2	3	≤ 8	≥ 9
Endoscopic Mayo score	8 (9.5)	40 (47.6)	25 (29.7)	11(13.2)
Histopathological score	8 (9.5)	35 (41.6)	32 (38.1)	9 (10.7)
Harvey-Bradshaw Index					22 (84.6)	4 (15.4)
SES-CD					24 (92.3)	2 (7.7)
Medication at endoscopy
No medication	14 (16.6)				5 (19.2)
Topical 5-ASA	16 (19)				2 (7.7)
Systemic 5-ASA	24 (28.5)				7 (26.9)
Systemic steroids	10 (11.9)				3 (11.6)
5-ASA + steroids	13 (15.5)				0
5-ASA + azathioprine	7 (8.5)				4 (15.4)
Azathioprine	0				5 (19.2)

Data regarding location of disease, disease behavior, index disease and medication at endoscopy are represented as number of patients (%). UC: Ulcerative colitis; CD: Crohn’s disease; HC: Healthy subjects; SES-CD: Simplified endoscopic activity score for Crohn’s disease; 5-ASA: 5-aminosalicylic acid derivatives; IBD: Inflammatory bowel diseases.