Therefore, based on our findings and in view of the previously reported heightened thrombogenic activity in NPSLE patients [38,62], it is possible that the combined upregulation of hippocampal eNOS and BDNF could be interpreted as evidence of ischemia secondary to micro- and macro-vascular alterations in the hippocampus of NZBWF1 animals. Here, BDNF is linked to ischemia.