EDN1 and atherosclerosis: Furthermore, the vasopressive gene endothelin-1 (ET-1), which causes smooth muscle cell contraction and vasoconstriction and is implicated in atherosclerosis[22], was downregulated by both types of flow (SF: −7.710±0.999-fold, p = 0.002; MF: −1.775±0.258-fold, p = 0.048), with no significant difference between flow groups (p = 0.055).