In line with our results, in a concomitant study on the effects of ATO on thrombomodulin (TM), which is critical for vascular thromboresistance, Lin et al. showed in the aorta of cholesterol-fed rabbits, that statins could protect the vasculature from p38-mediated inflammatory damage and that atherosclerosis resulted from cholesterol-dependent or independent mechanisms.34 This evidence concerns the gene MAPK14 and atherosclerosis.