NLRP3 and atherosclerosis: The NLRP3 inflammasome, a multiprotein complex including NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-1β and ASC, has been widely shown to be an essential step in cardiovascular disease and is linked to atrial fibrillation, atherosclerosis, diabetic cardiomyopathy and cardiac remodeling (Suetomi et al., 2018; Yao et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2018).