Nicotine-Mediated Alterations in Exosome Content: Implications for Stroke and Neurological Dysfunction

Nicotine damages the cardiovascular system in a variety of ways, from promoting inflammation to causing oxidative stress to prompting unnecessary autophagy. The alteration to the nervous system that yields nicotine dependence further exacerbates the negative impact that nicotine use has on public health. Nicotine use has also been found to cause alterations in exosome content, especially miRNA. Conversely, exosomes have also had promising results as treatments for nicotine-mediated alterations in protein and miRNA levels. However, although nicotine has been shown to both alter exosome content and exacerbate stroke outcomes, the relationship between these two functions is poorly understood. This review examines multiple sources to compare available data. Several factors in nicotine's effect on exosome content were thus found that imply a correlation. Also, exosome contents are not only a viable biomarker for multiple conditions, including ischemic brain damage and tobacco use, but they are also able to influence the cells of test subjects, both as a treatment for ischemic stroke and as a regulator of healthy brain function in stroke-free test subjects. Taken together, previous evidence suggests that nicotine-mediated alterations in neuronal exosome content have an effect on the progression of stroke in nicotine users.