Editorial

Compelling experimental and human studies implicate myeloid-driven inflammation as a significant compo-nent in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and a range of other chronic inflammatory diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. Indeed, elevated circulating white blood cell (WBC) count is a strong predictor of coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality independent of traditional risk factors, an associa-tion that has been observed across sexes, age, and diverse ethnic populations over the past 4 decades.1,2 Elevated mono-cyte counts may also correlate with cardiovascular risk bet-ter than other WBC subsets.3 Accumulating studies have recognized specific circulating myeloid cells, such as Ly-6C+ monocytes in mice and CD14+CD16+ subsets in humans, as potential instigators of atherosclerotic lesion formation and insulin resistance.4 The importance of the number of periph