ICAS	Intracranial Atherosclerosis.
ECAS	Extracranial Atherosclerosis.
MCA	Middle Cerebral Artery.
PCA/ACA	Posterior Cerebral Artery/Anterior Cerebral Artery.
HR-VWI	High-Resolution Vessel Wall Imaging.
BAD	Branch Atheromatous Disease.
IPH	Intraplaque Hemorrhage.
KLF2/KLF4	Krüppel-like Factor 2/4.
NO	Nitric Oxide.
eNOS	endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase.
ROS	Reactive Oxygen Species.
MCP-1	Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1.
NF-ɣB	Nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells.
DAMPs	Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns.
LDL/oxLDL	Low-density Lipoprotein/Oxidized Low-density Lipoprotein.
RCT	Reverse Cholesterol Transport.
TNF-α/IL-1β/IL-6	Tumor Necrosis Factor-α/Interleukin-1β/Interleukin-6.
MMPs	Matrix Metalloproteinases (specifically MMP-2 and MMP-9).
VSMCs	Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.
SMA/SMMHC	Smooth muscle α-actin/Myosin Heavy Chain.
BBB	Blood–Brain Barrier.
NVU	Neurovascular Unit.
RNF213	Ring Finger Protein 213.
GWAS	Genome-wide Association Studies.