IL18 and atherosclerosis: To better characterize the inflammatory responses in these mice, we quantified the plasma levels of cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-18) and chemokines (CCL2, CXCL1, and CXCL2) that have been previously identified to contribute to different pathogenic responses in atherosclerosis and hepatic inflammation (Ait-Oufella et al., 2011, Weber and Noels, 2011).