CD68 and atherosclerosis: HE staining showed that diabetes patients have larger atherosclerosis plaques than healthy control subjects, and the staining of SMC-associated genes (ACTA2) and macrophage phenotype-related genes (CD68) in tissue sections from patients with diabetic foot amputation showed that the staining was colocalized in approximately 54% of the VSMCs in the plaques (Figures 1(a)–1(c)).