The progression of WMHs in CSVD has been associated with higher expressions of ICAM1, CRP, and MMP9, thus supporting the role of endothelial dysfunction in CSVD (Markus et al., 2005; Satizabal et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2014; Gu et al., 2019). Here, ICAM1 is linked to endothelial dysfunction.