CCL2 and hypertensive disorder: Several studies have shown that CD14++CD16− monocytes from patients with cardiovascular risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, smoking or hypercholesterolemia, show a chemotactic defect towards vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) ligands [14–20].