A narrative review of the research status of exosomes in cardiovascular disease.

Objective: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major health problem worldwide, and medical workers are actively seeking new and effective methods to predict and treat CVDs. Exosomes are secreted by a variety of cells and exist in a variety of body fluids and tissues. Exosomes play an important role in signal transmission between cells and participate in various physiological and pathological activities of the organism. We sought to identify new diagnosis and treatment ideas related to the application of exosomes in CVDs.

Background: In the cardiovascular system, exosomes are related to endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes, vascular cells, stem cells, and progenitor cells. They can promote angiogenesis, inhibit ventricular remodeling, improve heart function, inhibit local inflammation, and regulate immune responses. They play an important role in the development, injury, and disease of the cardiovascular system. However, as an emerging field, researchers are still trying to fully understand the role of exosomes and their mechanisms in mediating heart repair.

Methods: We searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, PubMed, and Web of Science databases to find relevant articles. The Chinese and English search terms were "exosomes" and "cardiovascular disease". Ultimately, 96 articles were included in the review.

Conclusions: Exosomes play an important role in the cardiovascular system, and are widely involved in the occurrence and development of CVDs, such as atherosclerosis (AS), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, pulmonary hypertension (PH), and diabetic heart disease. In this review, we summarize research on exosomes in relation to the mechanisms, diagnoses and treatments of CVDs. We also provide new diagnosis and treatment ideas, and promote the clinical application of exosomes.