Whereas this phenomenon still remains to be better explored in dogs, species-specific functional differences in the response to hypercortisolemia, probably involving, i.a., CCR2 and CXCR4, may be involved in the absence of increased atherosclerosis in these animals, contrasting with other metabolic diseases in dogs and with what is observed in humans. This evidence concerns the gene CXCR4 and atherosclerosis.