Researchers have identified CHIP mutations as a new risk factor for cardiovascular disease. These changes in hematopoietic stem cells occur with age and lead to mutated blood cells that produce excessive inflammatory substances. This increases the risk of vascular calcification, blood clots and serious heart problems such as atrial fibrillation, stroke or heart attack.

The German Heart Foundation is funding a study at the University Medical Center Freiburg and the Charité Berlin with around 70,000 euros to decipher the mechanisms. Older people are particularly affected; in the age group over 70 years, about one in ten carries such mutations. The proportion is higher in heart patients: one in three has CHIP, and in patients with atrial fibrillation it is almost a quarter.

The mutations exacerbate existing diseases. For example, the risk of atrial fibrillation is increased by up to 45 percent in CHIP carriers, that for coronary heart disease is almost doubled and that for early heart attacks quadrupled. Stroke risks increase by 14 percent. The researchers analyze blood samples from 2400 patients with atrial fibrillation to clarify relationships independent of classic factors such as smoking or diabetes.

The aim is to develop personalised medicine that treats CHIP carriers in a more targeted manner in order to prevent events such as infarctions or strokes. A recent study published in the European Heart Journal highlights CHIP as an acquired genetic factor that influences heart disease severity and mortality. The Heart Foundation invests over six million euros annually in such projects.

Original Paper:

Eur Heart J. 2025 Sep 3:ehaf602. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf602. Online ahead of print. PMID: 40900105

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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