CXCL8 and atherosclerosis: In the process of atherosclerosis, proinflammatory factors, including IL-1β and IL-8, are expressed by ox-LDL-stimulated endothelial cells and VSMCs, which, in turn, activate macrophages, resulting in amplification of the inflammatory response (Chistiakov et al., 2015; Wolf & Ley, 2019).