Previous literature has reported that HMGB1 may promote the occurrence and progression of various AS-related diseases such as pulmonary hypertension, coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke by inducing the infiltration of leukocytes, adhesion aggregation of platelets and the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (Ding et al. 2016). The gene discussed is HMGB1; the disease is pulmonary hypertension.