Affiliations: [a] College of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, China
| [b] Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicinal Formula, Hefei, Anhui, China
| [c] Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Decoction Pieces of New Manufacturing Technology, Hefei, Anhui, China
| [d] Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Zhaojie Ji, College of Pharmacy, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230012, China. E-mail: jizhaojie@ahtcm.edu.cn. and Aizong Shen, Department of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230001, China. E-mail: shenaizong@ustc.edu.cn.
Abstract: Cognitive dysfunction, the major clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is caused by irreversible progressive neurological dysfunction. With the aging of the population, the incidence of AD is increasing year by year. However, there is neither a simple and accurate early diagnosis method, nor an effective method to alleviate or prevent the occurrence and progression of AD. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a number of heterogeneous membrane structures that arise from the endosome system or shed from the plasma membrane. In the brain, almost every kind of cell may have EVs, which are related to cell-cell communication and regulate cellular function. At present, an increasing body of evidence suggests that EVs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AD, and it is of great significance to use them as specific biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for cognitive impairment in AD. This article reviews the potential role of EVs as diagnostic biomarkers and treatments for cognitive dysfunction in AD.
