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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2027; 33(1): 122855
Published online Jan 7, 2027. doi: 10.3748/wjg.122855
Published online Jan 7, 2027. doi: 10.3748/wjg.122855
Longitudinal serum total cholesterol patterns and subsequent clinical relapse in ulcerative colitis
Ji-Yeon Kim, Minjee Kim, Sung Noh Hong, Dong Kyung Chang, Young-Ho Kim, Eun Ran Kim, Ji Eun Kim, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, South Korea
Min-Ji Kim, Biomedical Statistics Center, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul 06351, South Korea
Co-corresponding authors: Eun Ran Kim and Ji Eun Kim.
Author contributions: Kim JY acquired the data; Kim JY, Kim MJ and Kim JE analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript; Kim M, Hong SN, Chang DK, Kim YH, and Kim ER critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Kim ER and Kim JE designed the research study as co-corresponding authors; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: The authors declare that no AI tools were used in the development or writing of this manuscript and take full responsibility for its integrity, accuracy, and originality.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Samsung Medical Center (No. 2025-02-027-001).
Informed consent statement: As this study used only de-identified data routinely collected during clinical care, the requirement for informed consent was waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data underlying this article cannot be shared publicly, given the privacy expectations of the individuals who participated in the study. The data will be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
Corresponding author: Eun Ran Kim, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea. er.kim@samsung.com
Received: May 8, 2026
Revised: June 13, 2026
Accepted: July 2, 2026
Published online: January 7, 2027
Processing time: 185 Days and 17.4 Hours
Revised: June 13, 2026
Accepted: July 2, 2026
Published online: January 7, 2027
Processing time: 185 Days and 17.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Most studies link serum lipid levels, including total cholesterol (TC), to concurrent inflammatory activity, not to changes after endoscopic improvement. In this retrospective cohort of patients with ulcerative colitis, baseline serum TC did not distinguish outcomes, whereas exploratory trajectory analysis showed divergent serial TC patterns according to subsequent clinical relapse status. In the time-varying Cox model, each 1 mmol/L increase in updated TC was associated with a 1.31-fold higher hazard of clinical relapse. Supportive landmark analyses showed similar associations using maximal TC. Serial serum TC patterns may provide complementary information associated with relapse risk.