Comparison of intestinal mast cell numbers
| Specimen site | Category | Mucosal | Submucosal | Combined |
| Small bowel | ||||
| Non-IBD (19) | 92.7 (16.2) | 51.9 (5.8) | 144.6 (19.4) | |
| Crohn’s disease (16) | 188.9 (35.5)* | 77.4 (11.6) | 266.3 (43.8)* | |
| Large bowel | ||||
| Non-IBD (33) | 134.6 (14.7) | 66.0 (6.2) | 202.4 (19.5) | |
| Crohn’s disease (4) | 91.3 (34.7) | 70.0 (10.2) | 168.8 (38.5) | |
| Ulcerative colitis (6) | 142.6 (49.0) | 116.2 (28.5) | 258.8 (75.1) |
Mast cell numbers per mm2 of mucosa, submucosa, and the two areas combined expressed as mean (SEM); n is the number of subject specimens examined for each tissue category. *p<0.05 compared with corresponding non-IBD tissues.