Fig. 1

Disease severity correlated with the proinflammatory macrophage percentage and proinflammatory cytokine levels in UC patients. A Schematic diagram of active disease manifestations of IBD. B Representative immunofluorescence images of colon specimens from UC patients costained with the proinflammatory macrophage phenotype biomarkers CD11b (green color) and CD86 (red color). The nuclei were stained blue with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Scale bar = 50 μm. C The percentages of proinflammatory macrophages in the colon specimens of healthy controls or patients with UC (n = 4). D Representative coronal computed tomographic enterography (CTE) images showed abnormal CT manifestations in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Yellow arrows indicate segmental bowel wall thickening with strong mucosal enhancement in both mild and severe UC. Measurements of bowel wall enhancement (the ratio of venous stage enhancement to plain scan) (E) and bowel wall thickness (F) in patients with UC (n = 10). G Representative endoscopic images of healthy controls and patients with mild or severe UC. Yellow arrows indicate mucosal erosion, ulceration, and reductions in the vascular pattern, which are symptoms of intestinal inflammation. H The endoscopic severity score was assessed by the normalized UC endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS) (healthy controls n = 5, mild UC patients n = 10, and serve UC patients n = 15). I The serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with mild or severe UC (mild UC patients n = 10 and severe UC patients n = 18). The data are presented as the mean ± SD. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Proinflamm. MΦ: Proinflammatory macrophage