Exosomes populate the cerebrospinal fluid of preterm infants with post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus.

Background: Preterm infants are at risk of germinal matrix haemorrhage-intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH-IVH) which leads to post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) in 30% of infants; this is associated with moderate-severe neurodevelopmental impairment and confers significant risk of cerebral palsy. There are however no predictive indicators of the severity or long-term outcome after GMH-IVH. In recent years, endosome-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) or exosomes have been isolated from biofluids and shown to mediate intercellular communication via selective enrichment in proteins and micro-RNAs.