Since administration of atorvastatin induces plaque stabilization [32] and an absence of TP53 accelerates atherosclerosis [41], it is of interest, that we found a significant positive correlation between the density of Mac-1+ MΦ and density of TP53+ cells, which may be an indicator of improved plaque stabilization as found for lesions exclusively in group IV (with atorvastatin treatment). Here, TP53 is linked to atherosclerosis.