Mechanism and progress of exosomes in the treatment of nonunion / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Bone nonunion is a common complication after fracture, which brings great distress to patients. With the continuous development of exosomal technology, exosomes gradually show their advantages in the treatment of nonunion, which has become a new research direction in medical work. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the researches in and outside China and explore the role of exosomes in the treatment of nonunion. METHODS: The authors retrieved related Chinese articles published from 2003 to 2019 in Wanfang database, CNKI and VIP database with the key words of “exosomes, nonunion, bone remodeling, bone regeneration, vascular injury, osteoblasts, osteoclasts” and related English articles published from 2003 to 2019 in PubMed with the key words of “exosomes, nonunion, bone remodeling”. Totally 50 articles were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the study of exosomes on bone nonunion. MiRNAs and proteins in exosomes can affect bone nonunion by affecting the differentiation of osteocytes. (2) Studies have found that exosomes can treat bone nonunion by regulating bone remodeling, promoting vascular repair, and improving systemic diseases. (3) However, the current research on exosomes is still in the experimental stage. The specific method of how to better apply it to clinical treatment needs further exploration.