A significant novel finding of the current study is that the inhibition of caspase-1 alleviates the impaired ACh-induced vasodilation in atherosclerotic mesentery arteries (Fig. 5C, D), which suggests that caspase-1 is responsible for endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis possibly through an ER stress-dependent manner. This evidence concerns the gene CASP1 and atherosclerosis.