Since we had found IL-1β expression 10-fold upregulated in the mucosa of patients with moderately active chronic ulcerative colitis under treatment compared to inactive colitis, whereas the other two cytokines were only ~2-fold upregulated in this chronic stage (Yeruva et al., 2010, 2015), IL-1β seemed a pathophysiologically meaningful target molecule for further investigation. This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and ulcerative colitis.