Endothelial dysfunction has been described in patients with various and diverse chronic inflammatory conditions. Over the last few years, dysfunction of vascular endothelium has been widely recognized as the first step in the development of atherosclerosis. Several inflammatory mediators, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), Tumor Necrosis Factor α, (TNF α), nitric oxide (NO), vascular endothelial growth factor, CD-40, interleukin-6 (IL-6), which are up-regulated in IBD, also are known to impact vascular impact.