Study on gut microbiota between patients with ulcerative colitis and their healthy spouses

56 volunteers (28 couples) were recruited, including 28 patients with UC and their healthy control partners. All participants were from Kunming, China, and were aged from 18 to 60 years old. The health status of the volunteers was self-reported and confirmed by endoscopy. No healthy volunteers suffered any diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and none were taking medications at the time of their endoscopy nor used antibiotics during the year prior to specimen collection. All participants received information about UC, pathogenicity, risk factors, and importance of the study in their local language. Verbal and written informed consent were obtained from each participant.