NLRP3 and atherosclerosis: Quan et al. (2019) reported that AWE in unruptured aneurysms strongly indicated inflammatory infiltration of the UIA wall because it was significantly correlated with a high expression of inflammatory markers, including CD68 macrophage cells and anti-NLR Family Pyrin Domain Containing 3 (NLRP3). NLRP3 is an inflammasome that controls caspase-1 activity and pro-interleukin (IL)-1, leading to the development of atherosclerosis (Karasawa and Takahashi, 2017). Hu et al. (2016) reported that ruptured aneurysms contained abundant lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration.