## 3 Results  
### Patients Characteristics  
Patients included in this study were divided into two groups according to the diagnosed disease. The clinical characteristics of each group are presented in Table 1. The data presented in Table 1 have already been published and, as part of this research group, were also included in our previously conducted studies [15]. The activity of the disease in the group of patients with [PERSON]'s disease was assessed with the use of the CDAI score, in which severe disease was classified as more than 450 points of that scale, moderate as 220-450 points, and mild disease as 150-220 points [16]. In this group of patients, severe disease was noted in the case of 1 (6%) individual and moderate disease in 15 (94%) individuals. The intensity of inflammatory processes was assessed by the measurement of the C-reactive protein (CRP) level in the serum. The reference range for CRP concentration was estimated as lower than 10 mg/L. The increased level of CRP was noted in the case of 8 out of 16 patients with CD, while the median level equaled 18.8 (\(\pm\)20.1) mg/L. In the group of patients with ulcerative colitis, severe disease was defined as 3 points on the Mayo endoscopic scale, moderate as 2 points, and mild disease as 0-1 point [17]. Severe disease was noted in 18 (60%) patients, while 12 (40%) patients were classified with moderate disease. The median CRP level in this group equaled 14.4 (\(\pm\)24.5) mg/L; however, an increased CRP level was noted in the case of 10 patients. Comparison of Serum Proinflammatory Mediators Level between Patients with Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis  
In this study, we examined the level E- and P-selectins, CCL-2, IL-1\(\alpha\), IL-12p70, and TNF-\(\alpha\) in the serum of patients with [PERSON]'s disease and ulcerative colitis in order to identify the differences in the profile of inflammatory mediators between these two groups of patients. The obtained results together with the statistical significance of dissimilarities between analyzed groups are presented in Figure 1. The conducted statistical analysis revealed a significance difference in the serum profile of E- and P-selectin, IL-1\(\alpha\), and IL-12p70 between patients with CD and UC. In the group of CD patients, the level of E-selectin was increased by 64% compared to the UC group (89.6 vs. 54.5 mg/mL). In the case of P-selectin, the observed increase in the serum of CD patients was even higher, reaching 204% compared to the UC group (838.1 vs. 275.4 mg/mL). To identify the potential source (endothelial cells or platelets) of P-selectin, we additionally evaluated the correlation between P-selectin and platelet count in both groups of patients. Statistical analyses revealed a significant moderate correlation between the serum level of P-selectin and platelet count in the group of patients with CD (r = 0.519, \(p<0.05\)); however, no such relationship was noted in the UC group. Thus, the presented results may indicate differences in the source of P-selectin among these two groups. Significant differences were noted also in the cases of IL-1\(\alpha\) and IL-12p70, where subjects with CD presented a higher concentration of the mentioned cytokines compared to patients with UC (IL-1\(\alpha\): 2.4 vs. 0.9; IL-12p-70: 165.7 vs. 94.2) by 167 and 76%, respectively. No significant difference was, however, noted in the level of CCL-2 and TNF-\(\alpha\) between the analyzed groups. In order to assess the specificity and sensitivity of the analyzed parameters in the differential diagnosis of CD and UC, we drew the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, as presented as Figure 2. The ROC curve analysis revealed that the ability of E-selectin, P-selectin, IL-1\(\alpha\), and IL-12p70 in differentiating [PERSON]'s disease from ulcerative colitis was statistically significant. The serum profile of E-selectin presented a moderate value in differentiating CD from UC with AUC 0.752 (95% CI 0.604-0.900).