Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) extrusion in infection and diseases: A hallway for diagnosis and prognosis

A novel mechanism, NETosis, extrudes neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and empowers neutrophils to trap microbial pathogens and eliminate them through antimicrobial proteins. NETs are reported in microbial pathogenesis and are associated with autoimmunity, vaso-occlusion, cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, and cancer diseases. NETs have remained controversial for the last two decades due to their dual impact on pathogenesis. Several studies have been conducted, and adequate evidence has been reported on the beneficial and detrimental effects of NETs. The current review was planned to gain insight into the NETs-induced mechanisms and inducers to reflect critical findings that reveal the type of NETosis evoked during infection and its consequences. NETs accumulation and imbalance of NETs clearance support pathogenesis, leading to severe infection. Although NETs structures hinder the dissemination of pathogens, their elimination has been observed in a few pathologies. Still, several queries regarding immune-modulatory functions and underlying signaling mechanisms have not yet been elucidated and require further experimental approaches to evaluate NETs-induced molecular mechanisms and medical conditions, enabling NETs exploitation without suppressing their benefits for promising therapeutic target.