Hypertension-induced aortic stiffnessPositive correlation between MCP-1 levels in patient plasma and aortic stiffness estimated by echocardiography (89).Arterial stiffening in chronic kidney disease (CKD)Positive correlation between angiopoietin-2 in serum of CKD patients and aortic stiffness. Angiopoietin-2 induces CCL2 in ECs (117). The gene discussed is ANGPT2; the disease is chronic kidney disease.