HP and atherosclerosis: We indeed observed that the expression of zonulin, a marker protein of intestinal barrier damage,[20] was significantly higher in patients with T2DM‐ASCVD than in healthy controls (Figure 3A), and was positively correlated with the Gensini score (Figure 3B) and plasma LDL‐C and cholesterol levels in patients with T2DM‐ASCVD (Figure 3C).