Since NfL is a crucial scaffolding protein in the neuronal cytoskeleton, the NfL released upon neuronal damage into the ECM, CSF, and blood can be a suggestive measure of endothelial dysfunction (Cuadrado-Godia et al., 2018); a previous study had reported that a high level of NfL is associated with the presence of a recent small subcortical infarct (Gattringer et al., 2017). This evidence concerns the gene NEFL and endothelial dysfunction.