Extracellular vesicles in metabolic disease – published online 05/11/2019

Naveed Akbar, Valerio Azzimato, Robin P. Choudhury, Myriam Aouadi

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered promising candidates for the diagnosis and treatment of metabolic diseases. EVs are membrane-enclosed lipid spheres that serve as messengers by transporting lipids, proteins, RNA and/or DNA from the parent cell of origin to other cells. EVs present a potential major advantage over current blood-borne diagnostic markers as they can provide new functional insights into the cells and tissues implicated in metabolic disease. Recent discoveries in clinical cohorts and animal models has led to a blossoming of publications, implicating EVs in the biology and development of metabolic diseases. In this this issue, Akbar et al (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-019-05014-5) discuss the role of platelet, endothelial, adipocyte, immune cell and gut-microbiome EVs in metabolic dysfunction, focusing on EV-dependent communication between adipocytes, the vasculature and immune cells in type 2 diabetes. They also explore potential issues associated with translating early biomarker discoveries into therapeutic targets. The figures from this review are available as a downloadable slideset.

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