Congratulations to Dr. Matyal and her team for the acceptance of their original research article by PLOS ONE. The article, titled 'Early Cellular Changes in the Ascending Aorta and Myocardium in a Swine Model of Metabolic Syndrome' was able to show that preclinical metabolic syndrome initiates pro-apoptosis and pro-fibrosis pathways in the heart and ascending aorta, while sparing coronary arteries at this early stage of dietary modification.