AGT and atherosclerosis: Experimental data strongly suggest that these effects of ACE inhibitors are mediated by their direct anti-inflammatory activity that ameliorates pro-inflammatory signaling of angiotensin II in the vasculature.15 Specifically, ramipril attenuated atherosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice in a blood pressure- and cholesterol-independent manner10 while preventing macrophage activation.9 In agreement with these data, we demonstrated that ramipril treatment significantly reduced atherosclerotic plaque size in ApoE−/− mice.