The association between corticosteroids and VTErisk may be dose dependent.43 This hypothesis is illustrated by the findings of a prospectivestudy, in which IBD patients receiving high-dose steroids in taperingregimen showed a decrease in fibrin degradation products and stability infragments of prothrombin.44In vivo experimental studies in healthy individuals haveshown that glucocorticoid treatment increases the levels of clotting factorsand fibrinogen, but this finding has not been investigated in IBD patients.45 This evidence concerns the gene F2 and inflammatory bowel disease.