disclosed are diagnostic tests helpful in indicating presence of an inflammatory bowel disease in a human patient . in one embodiment , the test comprises obtaining a sample of mucosal tissue from the ileum or sigmoid colon of the patient ; evaluating sample quality by testing for cadaverine and continuing the diagnostic test if the sample has no detectable cadaverine ; testing the cadaverine negative sample for n - acetylated spermine ; and correlating a detectable level of n - acetylated spermine in the sample with presence of ibd in the patient . another , less invasive , method disclosed includes a diagnostic test comprising isolating mononuclear leukocytes from the patient &# 39 ; s blood ; testing the isolated mononuclear leukocytes for level of spermidine ; and correlating a level of spermidine higher than that in mononuclear leukocytes of normal subjects as indicative of an inflammatory bowel disease in the patient .