Quantitative measurements of α-synuclein seeds in CSF inform diagnosis of synucleinopathies.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains one of the leading causes of mortality within the United States (), and is projected to increase in both children and adults through 2050 (). The onset and progression of CVD may be associated with a myriad of risk factors, including poor-diet and lack of exercise (). Consumption of foods high in fructose is a hallmark of the Western Diet (), which results in a multitude of adverse health outcomes, including insulin resistance (), elevated body fat (), and dyslipidemia (), and thus subsequent increases in incidences of CVD (). Interestingly, western diets have also been associated with higher levels of neuroinflammation and enhanced risk of mental health problems (). Similarly, living conditions are increasingly being recognized as determinants of not just adverse cardiovascular health (), but overall well-being. Environmental enrichment in the form of green space has been associated with a lower risk of metabolic dysfunction and cardiometabolic disease progression (; ), and was also found to lower the risk of mental and neurobehavioral disorders (). Thus, living conditions such as built environment and access to greenspace represent a set of psychosocial factors that directly impact both CVD disease onset, progression and mortality () as well as the prevalence of mental health issues including depression and anxiety (). Importantly, depleted housing and poor diet often coincide, and as such, increased understanding of their impacts, both alone and in combination, is essential for adequate characterization of risk, as well as mitigation of harm. Such factors result in baseline changes to health that alter responsiveness to chemical stressors like wildfire smoke (WS). Wildfires pose a significant threat to human health as changes in global climate patterns increase the frequency and severity of these events and associated adverse health outcomes (), specifically increases in respiratory and cardiovascular morbidites and mortality (). Previously, noted that acute exposure to a single flaming eucalyptus WS modified the postprandial cardiovascular responses following a high carbohydrate challenge, indicating that the combined effect of a high-carbohydrate diet and air pollution might enhance susceptibility to CVD and dysfunction over a 22 week period. In addition, previous work found that depleted housing, or housing devoid of environmental enrichment, led to baseline physiological changes that increased susceptibility to WS exposures in mice, including higher resting heart rates and arrhythmias (Harmon et al. 2024), and altered allostatic load or cumulative stress profiles (). However, a characterization of the neurobehavioral effects of this housing paradigm, as well as potential combined effects with a poor high-fructose (HF) diet has yet to be determined.