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REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Renal Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1525314
This article is part of the Research Topic Cell Death in Kidney Diseases: Novel Biomarkers, Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Strategies View all 10 articles
The emerging roles of exosomes in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Nephrology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Wuhan，Tongji Medical College，Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- 3 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
The complex etiology and spectrum of kidney diseases necessitate vigilant attention, the focus on early diagnosis and intervention in kidney diseases remains a critical issue in medical research. Recently, with the rise of the study of extracellular vesicles, exosomes have garnered increasing interest as a promising tool for the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases. Exosomes are nano-sized extracellular vesicles that transport a diverse array of bioactive substances, which can influence various pathological processes associated with kidney diseases, exhibit detrimental or beneficial effects. Within the kidney, exosomes derived from the glomeruli and renal tubules possess the ability to enter systemic circulation or urine. The biomarkers they carry can reflect alterations in the pathological state of the kidneys, thereby offering novel avenues for early diagnosis. Furthermore, researches have confirmed that exosomes originating from multiple cell types exhibit therapeutic potential in treating kidney disease; notably, those derived from mesenchymal stem cells have shown significant treatment efficacy. This comprehensive review summarizes exosome contributions from different cell types within the kidneys while exploring their physiological and pathological roles therein. Additionally, we emphasize recent advancements regarding exosome applications in the diagnosis and treatment of various forms of kidney diseases over past decades. We not only introduce the urinary and blood biomarkers linked to kidney diseases found within exosomes, but also explore the therapeutic effects of exosomes in kidney diseases. Finally, we discuss existing challenges as well as future directions concerning clinical applications of exosomes for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
Keywords: Exosomes, kidney disease, diagnosis, biomarkers, Treatment
Received: 09 Nov 2024; Accepted: 20 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cao, Li, Ye, Lv, Zhang, Liang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yumei Wang, Department of Nephrology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.