Culprit Burning Pollutant Associated with Alpha-Synuclein-Related ADRD
Abstract
Military Service Members may expose to hazardous air pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM) in fire smokes from burn pits, wildfires, and prescribe fires. The exposure of PM has been strongly associated with dementia, and thus can serve as an important but modifiable risk factor of dementia in Veterans. Increased fire emissions of PM are expected under global warming and subsequent drought, therefore also influence the public health of the U.S. general population. However, it remains largely unknown whether and what components of fire smoke PM led to dementia via what specific mechanisms. This project will determine using animal models if whole-body exposure of fire smoke PM (mainly black carbon and organic matter) from well-controlled flaming and smoldering biomass and waste burning can induce ?-synuclein-related dementia via prion-like ?-synuclein pathology propagation in mice experiments. This study will identify the types and pathogenic fractions of fire smoke PM that can cause dementia in military-related environment, which can inform the Department of Defense for targeted pollution control and health policymaking.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2024
- Source ID
- HT94252310347
Entities
People
- Pengfei Liu
Organizations
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- United States Army