VCAM1 and atherosclerosis: The vascular endothelium is of great interest in the context of diabetes mellitus and sepsis, because chronic diabetes mellitus can cause a dysfunctional endothelium leading to diabetes-mellitus-related atherosclerosis [38], and upregulation of ICAM-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin, resulting in increased adherence of neutrophils [39].