VEGFA and coronary atherosclerosis: Despite the important role of VSMCs in atherosclerotic lesion formation, thus far, there have been no studies, with the exception of analyses regarding vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) [4] and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) [5], analyzing functional polymorphisms in genes encoding growth factors that affect VSMCs in terms of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis.