According to QPA, seven out of 98 pathways were significantly differentially expressed between CD and UC, including the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, Staphylococcus aureus infection, IL-17 signaling pathway, rheumatoid arthritis, TNF signaling pathway, transcriptional misregulation in cancer, and chemokine signaling pathway (Supplementary Table S6). Here, TNF is linked to staphylococcus aureus infection.