It is demonstrated that IL-6 initiates the endothelial injury mainly via reducing endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and adiponectin (an anti-atherogenic adipokine) expression (152), and the injection of recombinant IL-6 exacerbates atherosclerosis (153); these findings suggest that IL-6 also contributes to the increased incidence of CVD in CKD patients. Here, NOS3 is linked to atherosclerosis.