Accordingly, exposure of LPMC from ulcerative colitis patients to vancomycin- and streptomycin-conditioned gut microenvironments (i.e., sterile fecal water) enriched with microbiota-derived metabolites polarized T cells toward a proinflammatory Th1/Th17 phenotype and the production of mediators of systemic inflammation, i.e., TNF. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is ulcerative colitis.