KDR and atherosclerosis: Indeed, previous studies revealed that adropin is closely related to upregulation of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor-gamma in vasculature and inhibition of atherosclerosis via modulating the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and intercellular adhesion molecule 1, as well as a shift of the macrophage phenotype to anti-inflammatory M2 [65,66].