Table 1

 Characteristics of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients at the beginning of the study

CDUC
*Mean (SD) for continuous variables. NS by Wilcoxon rank sum test.
†Exact text p value <0.05.
CDAI, Crohn’s disease activity index; UCAI, ulcerative colitis activity index.
Clinical activity indices (CDAI, UCAI)*84.6 (55.3)0.9 (1.3)
Age at onset (y)*35.7 (11.6)41.2 (12.7)
Previous quiescent phase (months)*5.0 (4.3)4.8 (4.1)
Calprotectin (μg/g)
    ⩽15012 (31.6%)20 (48.8%)
    >15026 (68.4%)21 (51.2%)
Sex†
    F22 (57.9%)12 (29.3%)
    M16 (42.1%)29 (70.7%)
Smoking†
    Ex3 (7. 9%)15 (36.6%)
    No27 (71.0%)22 (53.7%)
    Yes8 (21.0%)4 (9.8%)
Extent
    Ileitis27 (71.0%)
    Ileocolitis5 (13.2%)
    Colitis6 (15.8%)
    Proctosigmoiditis28 (68.3%)
    Left sided colitis6 (14.6%)
    Pancolitis7 (17.1%)
Therapy
    Azathioprine2 (5.3%)2 (4.9%)
    Mesalazine32 (84.2%)39 (95.1%)
    No therapy4 (10.5%)0 (0%)
Surgery
    No35 (92.1%)41 (100%)
    Yes3 (7.9%)0 (0%)