Among 41 atherosclerosis-prone genes, the transcript levels for 11 genes (CSF1R, CSF2RB, IL18R1, ITGAM, ITGB3, PRKCQ, SREBF1, TLR5, TLR8, TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF1B) negatively correlated with HDL-C only, not with LDL-C and plasma TG. Here, ITGAM is linked to atherosclerosis.