REVIEW article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Atherosclerosis and Vascular Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1611557
Extracellular Vesicles in Atherosclerosis Cardiovascular Disease: Emerging Roles and Mechanisms
Provisionally accepted
- Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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The pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is complex, involving multiple cell types and biological processes. Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are small, cell-derived particles increasingly recognized for their role in cardiovascular diseases. EVs are believed to play key roles in this context by promoting inflammation, regulating intercellular communication, and influencing lipid metabolism. As a crucial mediators of cell communication, EVs contribute to both the progression of atherosclerosis (AS) and plaques stability. Although research on the role of EVs in AS and the role of biomarkers or drug carriers in clinical practice has been expanding, several challenges remain for clinical applications, including the lack of specific therapeutic targets for EVs, flaws in the separation and purification processes, and limited clinical trial data on their safety. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the function of EVs in AS and recent advances in their diagnostic and therapeutic potential, aiming to inform future clinical applications.
Keywords: extracellular vesicles, Atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, Inflammatory Response, intercellular communication
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 09 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Qiu, Zhang and Hua. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Junyi Hua, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.