To determine if in the setting of atherosclerosis the number of apoptotic macrophages was being influenced by an effect of bone marrow deficiency of α7nAChR on the abundance of lesional M2 macrophages, we examined by immunofluorescence the co-localization of mannose receptor, an M2-associated marker [20], with macrophage staining. Here, CHRNA7 is linked to atherosclerosis.