Systemic Inflammation and Hematologic Risk: Unraveling Bone Marrow Remodeling

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) data link chronic systemic inflammation to bone marrow remodeling that can create permissive niches for the silent expansion of mutated hematopoietic clones, connecting tissue-level changes to early hematologic risk in older adults.

The study moves beyond peripheral inflammation markers to demonstrate sustained alterations in marrow stromal niches and immune-cell activation, with clear population relevance for older adults and people with chronic inflammatory disorders. These are persistent microenvironmental shifts in the marrow rather than transient peripheral signals.

The mechanistic data show reprogramming of stromal cells, activation of interferon-responsive T cells, and a self-sustaining inflammatory loop that impairs normal hematopoiesis while favoring mutated hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Cytokine-driven signaling and altered stromal support reduce healthy stem-cell competitive fitness, giving mutated clones a relative proliferative advantage—providing a biologically plausible route to increased clonal expansion risk.