CRP and inflammatory bowel disease: It has been shown that CST levels are higher in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an inflammatory disease group.13 In a study, patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), a rheumatological disease with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, have higher levels of CST than the control group.5 Moreover, disease activity score-28 levels were found to be positively correlated with CST levels.5 In contrast, this study found that lower CST levels were significantly associated with ASDAS-CRP, suggesting that AS may involve distinct inflammatory or neuroendocrine mechanisms compared to RA and IBD.