IL18 and atherosclerosis: The findings of this study clearly showed that S. sonnei infection caused IL-1β and IL-18 production through the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages, suggesting that S. sonnei infection may increase the risk for NLRP3-associated inflammatory diseases, including diabetes, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic kidney disease, gout, and Alzheimer's disease (13–15).