Antioxidant Potential of Exosomes in Animal Nutrition

Abstract

This review delves into the advantages of exosomes as novel antioxidants in animal nutrition and their potential for regulating oxidative stress. Although traditional nutritional approaches promote oxidative stress defense systems in mammalian animals, several issues remain to be solved, such as low bioavailability, targeted tissue efficiency, and high-dose by-effect. As an important candidate offering regulation opportunities concerned with cellular communication, disease prevention, and physiology regulation in multiple biological systems, the potential of exosomes in mediating redox status in biological systems has not been well described. A previously reported relationship between redox system regulation and circulating exosomes suggested exosomes as a fundamental candidate for both a regulator and biomarker for a redox system. Herein, we review the effects of oxidative stress on exosomes in animals and the potential application of exosomes as antioxidants in animal nutrition. Then, we highlight the advantages of exosomes as redox regulators due to their higher bioavailability and physiological heterogeneity-targeted properties, providing a theoretical foundation and feed industry application. Therefore, exosomes have shown great potential as novel antioxidants in the field of animal nutrition. They can overcome the limitations of traditional antioxidants in terms of dosage and side effects, which will provide unprecedented opportunities in nutritional management and disease prevention, and may become a major breakthrough in the field of animal nutrition.

Keywords: animal nutrition; antioxidants; exosome; milk exosome; oxidative stress.

Figure 1

The mechanism of exosome production. Cells produce vesicles through endocytosis, which fuse to form early endosomes and gradually become late endosomes, accompanied by the mediation of Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, and nucleus. Subsequently, the late endosomes produce many luminal vesicles (ILVs) in the cytoplasm, which gradually evolve into multi-vesicle bodies (MVBs). Finally, it is often accompanied by Endosomal Sorting Complexes Required for Transport (ESCRT) protein complexes, which are released outside the cell to form exosomes.

Figure 2

Multiple pathways through which internal components of exosomes alleviate oxidative stress.

Figure 3

The potential of milk exosomes in the field of animal nutrition.