Research progress of extracellular vesicles in diagnosis, prognosis and epidemiology of cardiovascular disease

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are vesicular corpuscles released by cells, which consist of nucleic acids, proteins and other bioactive molecules. EVs are involved in cell-cell communication. There are affluent EVs in most body fluids, which participate in regulating multiple physiological and pathological responses. Considering that the role of EVs in cardiovascular disease is gradually revealed, whether EVs can be used as biomarkers, therapeutic targets or drug-loading tools for cardiovascular disease needs to be answered. For a deeper understanding of the role of EVs in cardiovascular diseases, the biological characteristics and functions of EVs in the diagnosis, prognosis and drug therapy of cardiovascular diseases are reviewed in the paper, hopefully providing a basis for further clinical translation of EVs.