Age and the Aβ-plaque-independent microglial response were not significantly associated in females (r = − 0.27, p = 0.17) and males with AD (r = − 0.03, p = 0.90) after adjustment for TSPO gene SNP and there was no significant age x sex interaction (T = 0.41, p = 0.69), when controlling for BMI, TSPO gene SNP and AD signature CSF markers. Here, TSPO is linked to Alzheimer disease.