Acute exacerbation of disease does not correlate with antibody levels, however enhanced ASCA and other anti-microbial Ab levels correlate with more complicated disease courses and anti-TNF-α therapy, It has been shown that microbial-specific IgA mediates gut homeostasis in animal models [37] and might therefore have anti-inflammatory functions in IBD. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is inflammatory bowel disease.