We further found that the proportion of two atherosclerosis related pro-inflammatory T cell subsets in spleen continued to rise from week 6 to week 48 in Apo E−/− mice (Th1: from 13.59±0.96 to 33.95±2.93; Th17: from 0.74±0.08 to 1.94±0.20) but no significant increase over the 48-week period in wild type littermates (Fig. 1c, 1d, and 1e). Here, APOE is linked to atherosclerosis.