Harnessing extracellular vesicles for ischemic stroke management

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are versatile, cell-derived complexes that serve as a complete package of biologically important molecules, released during both normal and pathological processes. With rapid advancements in EVs research, there has been a shift in its therapeutic applications, clinical development and commercialization. EVs have been extensively studied for their potential to mitigate ischemic stroke pathological mechanisms, such as excitotoxicity, immune response, blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction, neuroinflammation and apoptosis. EVs' innate ability to protect molecular cargo (proteins, DNA or RNA) from enzymatic degradation, their natural ability to traverse BBB, high cargo-loading efficiency and superior biocompatibility make them ideal candidates for targeted drug delivery systems in ischemic stroke. Their presence in most biofluids and changes in their contents during disease conditions, support investigation of EVs as promising minimally invasive biomarkers for the early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of ischemic stroke. Moreover, EVs in combination with other therapeutic agents have considerable potential for clinical translation. This perspective provides a comprehensive overview of current literature on EV-based systems in stroke management, highlighting their role as standalone therapeutics, presenting opportunities for cargo delivery, biomarkers

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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