These included genes that have been previously associated with CVD in human studies such as PTX3 (pentraxin 3) [63–65] and S100A12 (EN-RAGE) [66, 67], as well as genes that have been associated with CVD only in animal studies such as ANXA3 and SLPI, both shown to be up-regulated in rodent models of ischemic stroke [68, 69]. This evidence concerns the gene PTX3 and ischemic stroke.