Exosomes as Crucial Player in Insulin Resistance and Obesity: Potential Therapeutic Approach

Abstract

Increasing obesity has become a serious health problem worldwide in recent years, both in adults and children. Obesity can lead to numerous diseases such as osteoarthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and other metabolic disorders. In addition, obesity is considered one of the most common causes of insulin resistance in the body. Moreover, obesity disrupts normal insulin physiology, resulting in impaired insulin signaling and other intrinsic abnormalities such as poor glucose movement, phosphorylation, and decreased glucose oxidation and glycogenesis. Therefore, it is necessary to find an effective treatment for such conditions. Recently, exosomal therapy has been proposed as one of the alternative approaches to treat metabolic diseases. Exosomes are endosome-derived extracellular vesicles that circulate in body fluids such as mucus, blood plasma, urea, etc., transfer molecules and signals from one cell to another, and thus are involved in various normal and pathological processes in the human body. It has been discovered that exosomes play a role in processes related to obesity, such as adipocyte differentiation, angiogenesis, inflammation, etc. The current study reviewed exosomes’ role in the development of insulin resistance associated with obesity and possible targets.