The Role of Exosomes in Viral Hepatitis and Its Associated Liver Diseases

Hao Zhou; Zhi-Han Yan; Yuan Yuan; Chen Xing; Nan Jiang

doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.782485

The Role of Exosomes in Viral Hepatitis and Its Associated Liver Diseases

Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Nov 22:8:782485. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.782485. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hao Zhou¹, Zhi-Han Yan², Yuan Yuan¹, Chen Xing³, Nan Jiang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Affiliated Hangzhou Chest Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Hepatology, Wuxi Fifth People's Hospital, Wuxi, China.
³ Department of Oncology, The Second People's Hospital of Yancheng City, Yancheng, China.
⁴ Department of Urology, People's Hospital of Dongtai City, Dongtai, China.

Abstract

Exosomes, the important carriers between cells, can carry proteins, micro ribonucleic acids (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and other molecules to mediate cellular information transduction. They also play an important role in the pathogenesis, prognosis and treatment of viral hepatitis and its associated liver diseases. Several studies have reported that viral hepatitis and its associated liver diseases, including hepatitis A, B, C and E; hepatic fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, were closely associated with exosomes. Exploring the role of exosomes in viral hepatitis and associated liver diseases will enhance our understanding of these diseases. Therefore, this review mainly summarised the role of exosomes in viral hepatitis and its associated liver diseases to identify new strategies for liver diseases in clinical practise.

Keywords: biomarkers; exosomes; fibrosis; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); therapeutic targets; viral hepatitis.

Publication types

Review