IL1B and atherosclerosis: These findings agree with other studies, which showed that the severity of atherosclerosis lesions does not always correlate with the extent of plasma cholesterol and LDL increase.20–23 Additionally, no difference in plasma TNF-α or IL-1β levels was found between the α9Mye-KOApoe−/− and α9WTApoe−/− mice, suggesting that the observed atheroprotection in the α9Mye-KOApoe−/− mice was not due to a decrease in the production of proinflammatory cytokines, the known promoters of atherosclerosis.24,25