Cerebral microhemorrhages: mechanisms, consequences, and prevention
Year: 2017
Type: review
Abstract: The increasing prevalence of multifocal cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs, also known as "cerebral microbleeds") is a significant, newly recognized problem in the aging population of the Western world. CMHs are associated with rupture of small intracerebral vessels and are thought to progressively impair neuronal function, potentially contributing to cognitive decline, geriatric psychiatric syndromes, and gait disorders. Clinical studies show that aging and hypertension significantly increase prevalence of CMHs. CMHs are also now recognized by the National Institutes of Health as a major factor in Alzheimer's disease pathology. Moreover, the presence of CMHs is an independent risk factor for subsequent larger intracerebral hemorrhages. In this article, we review the epidemiology, detection, risk factors, clinical significance, and pathogenesis of CMHs. The potential age-related cellular mechanisms underlying the development of CMHs are discussed, with a focus on the structural determinants of microvascular fragility, age-related alterations in cerebrovascular adaptation to hypertension, the role of oxidative stress and matrix metalloproteinase activation, and the deleterious effects of arterial stiffening, increased pulse pressure, and impaired myogenic autoregulatory protection on the brain microvasculature. Finally, we examine potential treatments for the prevention of CMHs based on the proposed model of aging- and hypertension-dependent activation of the reactive oxygen species-matrix metalloproteinases axis, and we discuss critical questions to be addressed by future studies.
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Role of SIRT1 in vasoprotection, Effects of Radiation on Brain Microvasculature and Cognition, Microvascular mechanisms of neuroinflammation: role of Nrf2, G312725022, G4033523274, NOVEL APPROACHES FOR REGULATION OF IGF-1 LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE LIFESPAN, Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources, Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in Basic Biology of Aging, GEROSCIENCE TRAINING PROGRAM IN OKLAHOMA
OpenAlex ID: W2597038151