Potential Application of Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Treatment of Burn Wounds

Xinyu He,1,2,* Ya Yang,1,2,* Hong Niu,3 Congxia Hu,4 Jihui Lin1,2 1Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China; 2Wound Healing Basic Research and Clinical Application Key Laboratory of LuZhou, School of Nursing, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Congxia Hu, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, No. 1, Section 1, Xianglin Road, Longmata District, Luzhou, Sichuan Province, 646000, People’s Republic of China, Email congxiahu0606@sjtu.edu.cn Jihui Lin, Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, No. 1, Section 1, Xianglin Road, Longmata District, Luzhou, Sichuan Province, 646000, People’s Republic of China, Email linjihui@swmu.edu.cnAbstract: Burns are triggered by exposure of skin to heat sources, chemicals, electric currents, or radiation. Due to the cross-interaction of multiple factors, the healing mechanism of burns is complex. In recent years, plant-derived extracellular vesicles (P-EVs) have been found to possess characteristics such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and promotion of angiogenic, owing to their rich content of proteins, nucleic acids, and secondary metabolites, which make P-EVs have great application prospects in the field of tissue regeneration. This article, based on the specificities of healing mechanisms of burn wounds compared to general wounds, systematically reviews the extraction techniques of P-EVs, their bioactive components, and the molecular mechanisms in repair of burn wounds. Moreover, P-EVs have certain advantages in biocompatibility and promoting cell proliferation for repair, providing innovative strategies for the treatment of burn wounds directly or as a complement for the existing therapeutics. However, their clinical application still faces challenges such as the lack of standardized extraction processes, unclear targeting mechanisms, and long-term safety assessment. Future research can combine multidisciplinary technologies to further optimize the extraction and targeting of P-EVs, promoting their translational application in regenerative medicine. This article aims to provide theoretical references for the basic research and clinical practice of P-EVs in repair of burn wounds and to envision their development prospects as a new treatment method for burn wounds.Keywords: Burns, burn wounds healing, exosomes, plant-derived extracellular vesicles