Commentary
For many years, double-layer phospholipid membrane vesicles, released by most cells, were not considered to be of biological significance. This stance has dramatically changed with the recognition of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as carriers of biologically active molecules that can traffic to local or distant targets and execute defined biological functions.
A central barrier to the development of therapies is the requirement for an invasive liver biopsy for diagnosis of NASH. Discovery of reliable, non-invasive biomarkers are urgently needed. In their study, D. Povero et al. (Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, University of California San Diego) tested whether circulating EVs may serve as reliable non-invasive “liquid biopsies” for NASH diagnosis and assessment of disease severity.
Total circulating EVs and hepatocyte-derived EVs were isolated by differential centrifugation and size-exclusion chromatography from serum samples of healthy individuals, patients with pre-cirrhotic NASH, and patients with cirrhotic NASH.
Their findings suggest that levels of total and hepatocyte-derived EVs correlate with NASH clinical characteristics and disease severity.
