CCL2 and endothelial dysfunction: It has been reported that upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, interferon (IFN)-γ, and E-selectin, are markers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, and the plasma levels of these cytokines are frequently increased in various cardiovascular diseases including CAD (Dame et al., 2007; von Scholten et al., 2016; Rahman et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 2017).