IL1B and atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis-prone mice that are deficient for IL-1β develop smaller lesions,47 and administration of IL-1RA reduces early atherogenesis in mice,48 whereas IL-1RA–deficient mice have shown increased atherosclerosis49 and vascular inflammation, associated with destruction of elastic tissues.50 In the current study, numerous downstream effectors of IL-1β (eg, IRAK, NF-kB, and MyD88) were highly enriched in symptomatic plaques.