APOE and diabetes mellitus: In order to investigate whether the AMPK–Pdlim5 pathway is involved in the protective function of metformin against atherosclerosis, ApoE−/− male mice were divided randomly into control, streptozocin (STZ), and high-fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetes mellitus; STZ+HFD together with metformin or Pdlim5 mutant carried the adenovirus treatment groups.