In a subgroup of IBD patients with active disease, the correlation coefficients were even higher: r = 0.70, p = 0.0001 (IL-1β), r = 0.62, p < 0.001 (IL-6), r = 0.54, p = 0.006 (IL-8), r = 0.56, p = 0.004 (TNFα), and r = 0.42, p = 0.038 (VEGF-A) (see Supplementary data for graphs). Here, VEGFA is linked to irritable bowel syndrome.