However, in patients with IBD, examining the contribution of various clinical covariates at the time of stool testing to Bray-Curtis dissimilarity-based PCoA analysis, IBD subtypes and biomarkers of inflammation such as C-reactive protein had larger relative influences on the gut microbiome compared with the presence of an E. coli subtype or norovirus (Figure 3d). This evidence concerns the gene CRP and irritable bowel syndrome.