Cerebral microbleeds (MB) and small vessel disease (SVD) with congophilic arterial angiopathy (CAA) are increasingly recognized as a variable factor in AD cognitive impairments. This commentary on our recent report on sex-ApoE interactions in MBs published this February, briefly explores three aspects of MBs that could not be fully discussed therein: I, A possible gap between the prevalence of MBs as detected by MRI and post mortem analysis; II, The role of hemoglobin-degradation products in amyloid-attributed neurodegenerative changes; and III, Possible assessment of MB by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assays for iron-related markers to better screen patient subgroups for AD interventions.
Keywords: Alzheimer disease; CSF heme; Microbleeds; Transgenic mice.