Atherosclerosis is a major cause of chronic hypoxia and hypoperfusion (Nam et al., 2020), whereas MIF is upregulated in atherosclerotic plaques and induces the expression of chemokines and adhesion molecules, which promote monocyte adhesion to the endothelium, thereby facilitating the migration and recruitment of atherosclerotic leukocytes, which can indirectly cause damage to neurons (Sinitski et al., 2019). Here, MIF is linked to atherosclerosis.