Why the study?
The pathophysiological mechanisms of NAFLD remain unclear with no specific therapy currently available, highlighting the need to explore extracellular vesicles as novel mediators in cellular communication.
Extracellular vesicles derived from plants and probiotics represent a promising novel therapeutic strategy for NAFLD by targeting the gut-liver axis.
Hypothesis-generating for plant- and probiotic-derived vesicle therapies in NAFLD; prospective trials needed before clinical consideration.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents an increasing public health concern. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of NAFLD remains unclear, and as a result, there is currently no specific therapy for this condition. However, recent studies focus on extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a novelty in their role in cellular communication. An imbalance in the gut microbiota composition may contribute to the progression of NAFLD, making the gut-liver axis a promising target for therapeutic strategies. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of EVs in NAFLD. Additionally, exosome-like nanovesicles derived from plants (PELNs) and probiotics-derived extracellular vesicles (postbiotics) have demonstrated the potential to re-establish intestinal equilibrium and modulate gut microbiota, thus offering the potential to alleviate NAFLD via the gut-liver axis. Further research is needed using multiple omics approaches to comprehensively characterize the cargo including protein, metabolites, genetic material packaged, and biological activities of extracellular vesicles derived from diverse microbes and plants.
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Medina et al. (2025) studied this question.
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