Additionally, a study by Kritikou et al. demonstrated that adoptive transfer of CD1d−/− or control mast cells into mast cell-deficient apoE−/−KitW-sh/W−sh mice, followed by an atherogenic diet, resulted in larger atherosclerotic plaques and increased secretion of inflammatory factors in reconstituted apoE−/−KitW-sh/W−sh mice, indicating that mast cells exacerbate the progression of atherosclerosis through their pro-inflammatory activity (Kritikou et al., 2019). This evidence concerns the gene APOE and atherosclerosis.