APOE and atherosclerosis: A number of studies have confirmed that chronic iron overload by injection with iron-dextran (62) or high iron diet (63) intensifies the atherosclerotic process with an increase in iron deposition in the aorta, while iron depletion by iron chelation (7, 64–66) and dietary iron restriction (20, 63, 66) attenuates the atherosclerosis progression with a reduction in iron deposit in the aortic tissues or macrophage iron content in plaques in ApoE–/– mice.