We continue to acquaint you with exosomes and their capabilities. In our previous article, we talked about what exosomes are, what exosome functions are, and what they contain. Let us remind that drugs based on exosomes are increasingly used to combat the following trichological problems:● hair loss after COVID-19;● hair loss during and after pregnancy;● hair loss during breastfeeding;● androgenic alopecia in women and men;● diffuse alopecia.
Please read more about treating these problems, strengthening hair and increasing its density on this page.
Exosomes are vesicles that carry large amounts of biologically active compounds. This makes them a kind of nanodrug. Through their lipid shell, they can transport substances into almost any cell, merging with their membranes. A number of studies show that exosomes have therapeutic and diagnostic properties due to their internal structure (functional proteins and nucleic acids). This structure can vary and depends on the type of cells that produce them and the general condition of the body. Exosomes have a number of advantages over other cellular products, and many companies already produce vesicle-based drugs for clinical use or conduct clinical trials of their effectiveness. Scientists are working on ways to modify exosomes to be able to "load" drugs into them, followed by targeted delivery to a specific target tissue or organ. The relevance of the study of exosomes in various fields of science and medicine is evidenced by the growing number of publications several times each year.

What exactly causes the popularity of exosomes among scientists and doctors? What are the prospects for their use in medicine? And is exosome treatment really the medicine of the future? We are going to answer all these questions below.

1. Exosomes are NOT CELLS, they do not contain a nucleus, and therefore are not able to reproduce when they enter the body and, accordingly, do not threaten to turn into tumor cells.2. Exosomes do not elicit an immune response.3. Due to a wide range of biologically active substances (growth factors, miRNAs, etc.) exosomes in the case of delivery to damaged tissue or organ are able to send anti-inflammatory signals, improve tissue nutrition, prevent cell death, stimulate vascular germination and regeneration in general.4. Exosome-based preparations can be administered locally as pulmonary inhalations, eye drops, joint injections, intradermal injections, or intranasal injections to enter brain cells.5. Exosomes are able to cross the blood-brain barrier through their nanoscale and lipid membrane, so they can be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases.6. Exosomes are much easier to introduce, store and transport than cells. If cells outside the body or incubator conditions remain viable for 4-8 hours, the stability of the exosomes does not change for several days or even weeks. For longer and safer storage or transportation, they can be preserved using the lyophilic freezing method.

Many biotechnology companies from different countries are currently developing exosome-based drugs for clinical use. The main areas of application of exosomes:
1. Regenerative medicine.2. Diagnostics.3. Development of vaccines.4. Development of targeted drugs.

Many studies show that the vesicles secreted by stem cells have the function of stimulating the repair of damaged tissues, similar to stem cells. Therefore, scientists have begun to pay attention to the possibility of using exosomes from stem cells to treat various diseases and restore the body.
Nearly 30 world-renowned pharmaceutical companies are currently developing exosome-based drugs and conducting clinical trials. The number of scientific publications examining exosomes is growing every year. More than 200 clinical trials using exosomes have been registered on clinicaltrials.gov. Their medicinal properties are studied in the following diseases:
● stroke;● coronavirus pneumonia;● periodontitis;● back pain;● massive wounds;● depression, dementia;● myocardial infarction;● dry eye syndrome, etc.
The results of many clinical studies are promising and encouraging. Therefore, it is possible that the use of exosomes and cell therapy will soon become common in many clinics around the world.
One of the clinical studies of the effectiveness of exosomes in combating age-related skin changes was recently published in the article “The Utilization of Human Placental Mesenchymal Stem Cell Derived Exosomes in Aging Skin: An Investigational Pilot Study”. There was a double-blind randomized clinical trial with 40 patients participating. Half of them received 3 injections of exosomal product at intervals of 30 days, the other - injections of saline (control group). The results were statistically significant (p <.0001). In all patients from the experimental group, the general condition of the skin improved and the manifestations of age-related changes decreased. Thus, exosomes have great potential for use in cosmetology to rejuvenate facial skin.
The world's first kit for the diagnosis of diseases based on exosomes ExosDX Lung (ALK), developed by Exosomes Diagnostics, was FDA certified in 2016. This kit allows for a so-called "liquid" biopsy and to identify markers for lung cancer in a patient's plasma.