THURSDAY, Jan. 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Radon exposure is associated with an increased risk for clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) among postmenopausal women with ischemic stroke, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in Neurology.

Kurtis M. Anthony, M.P.H., from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues estimated the risk for CHIP related to radon by linking geocoded addresses of 10,799 Women’s Health Initiative Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine participants to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-predicted, county-level, indoor average screening radon concentrations, categorized as zones 1, 2, and 3 (>4, 2 to 4, and <2 pCi/L, respectively). CHIP was defined as the presence of one or more leukemogenic driver mutations with variant allele frequency >0.02.

The researchers found that 9.0, 8.4, and 7.7 percent of participants had CHIP in zones 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Zones 2 and 1 were associated with a higher estimated risk for CHIP relative to zone 3 among participants with ischemic stroke (1.39 and 1.46, respectively), but not among those with hemorrhagic stroke or those without stroke. Among Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment subtyped cardioembolism or other ischemic etiologies, the corresponding estimates were particularly high, but estimates were not significantly increased for small vessel occlusion.

“In conclusion, although the results do not support an association between radon and CHIP among postmenopausal women overall, they do suggest an association between radon and CHIP among participants with ischemic stroke,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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