Besides modulating NLRP3 or caspase-1 activity, direct targeting of IL-1β in atherosclerosis, without affecting cholesterol levels, is an interesting alternative approach that was recently evaluated in the CANTOS trial using canakinumab, a human monoclonal antibody that binds to IL-1β and thereby blocks the interaction of IL-1β with its receptor and subsequent downstream pro-inflammatory signaling events. This evidence concerns the gene NLRP3 and atherosclerosis.