Impaired signalling pathways mediated by extracellular vesicles in diabesity

Abstract

Diabesity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are the most prevalent diseases nowadays and associate with high risk of cardiovascular complications. The impaired signalling pathways associated with the metabolism of D-glucose, lipids, and insulin have been studied for many years aiming to understand the cellular mechanisms of these diseases. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes and microvesicles, carry different microRNAs or proteins as cargoes, acting as a mechanism of cell-to-cell communication to modulate different cell functions altering the metabolic regulatory pathways. Several studies have shown an altered number or cargo of EVs in metabolic diseases, including T2DM and obesity, suggesting that these vesicles may play an important role in the regulation of metabolic signalling pathways in diabesity. In this review, we described some of the current studies involving EVs and hypothesize about the role of these structures in the impaired metabolism in T2DM, obesity, and diabesity.

Keywords: Diabesity; Diabetes; Extracellular vesicles; Metabolism; Obesity.