SELE and atherosclerosis: A similar association was also observed in patients with various forms of atherosclerosis, with the highest hsCRP concentrations found in patients with PAD (Table 7), who also had significantly higher serum concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8, as well as other atherogenic factors such as VEGF, E-selectin, or ICAM (p < 0.05 for most of the comparisons between cases and controls, Table 7).