TNF and inflammatory bowel disease: To further investigate the colonic inflammation triggered by CMC as well as the efficacy of F+ supplementation against this inflammation, we utilized several reliable IBD biomarkers including heme enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO), fecal flagellin (FliC) and pro-inflammatory genes Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), Interleukin 6 (IL6), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4).