ASH 2021 | Investigating the effect of CHIP mutations in microglial function and Alzheimer’s disease

Siddhartha Jaiswal • 12 Dec 2021

ASH 2021

General

It was recently found that the presence of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) was correlated with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and that CHIP variants were enriched in microglia. Siddhartha Jaiswal, MD, PhD, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, talks on the potential impact of the results. If this association is found to be causal, it could be used to design new therapeutic strategies based on mimicking the effect of these mutations. Dr Jaiswal explains that several pre-clinical studies in AD mouse models investigating the effect of inducing bone marrow mutations and whether mutated microglia have an altered function that could explain the protective effect of CHIP on AD risk are about to be launched. This interview took place at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition congress in Atlanta, GA.