Characteristics of the study groups
| Disease category | No of patients (male/female) | Age (median (range)) (y) | Disease activity (active/inactive) |
| Ulcerative colitis | 48 (18/30) | 41 (18–70) | 28/20 |
| Crohn's disease | 26 (19/7) | 30 (16–51) | 19/7 |
| Primary biliary cirrhosis | 6 (1/5) | 22 (18–26) | 2/4 |
| Primary sclerosing cholangitis | 3 (2/1) | 34 (25–42) | 3/0 |
| Healthy volunteers | 20 (10/10) | 33 (25–42) | — |