In human colonic muscosa of patients with ulcerative colitis, expression of CIRP correlated significantly with the expression of inflammatory cytokines (TNFa, IL23/IL17), antiapoptotic proteins (Bcl2, Bcl-xl) and stem cell markers (Sox2, Bmi1 and Lgr4) and the expression of CIRP was enhanced in the colonic mucosae of refractory ulcerative colitis. The gene discussed is LGR4; the disease is ulcerative colitis.