APOE and atherosclerosis: We used ApoE knockout (ApoE−/−) mice fed a HFD or a HFD supplemented with capsaicin to explore the effects of capsaicin on blood lipids, inflammation, and aortic pathology, and further compared them to the antibiotic-treated mice with capsaicin administration to evaluate whether capsaicin can improve atherosclerosis or not when the gut microbiota is depleted.