Extracellular Vesicles as Diagnostic Metrics for Cardiovascular Disease: Where We are and How to Achieve in Clinics

As one of the leading causes of death globally, early diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular disease have become the focus of clinical and public health. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small, double-layered membrane structures actively secreted by cells and are widely present in body fluids such as blood, urine, and saliva. They carry various bioactive molecules, including proteins and nucleic acids, and are known for their remarkable stability and easy accessibility, making them promising candidates for identifying cardiovascular disease. This review summarizes the applications of EVs in the early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, explores the potential biomarkers of proteins and RNAs (such as miRNA, lncRNA, and circRNA) contained within EVs, and discusses the prospects and challenges of EV biomarkers in clinical applications.