Published online Mar 26, 2024. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v16.i3.109
Peer-review started: December 15, 2023
First decision: January 25, 2024
Revised: February 1, 2024
Accepted: March 4, 2024
Article in press: March 4, 2024
Published online: March 26, 2024
Processing time: 96 Days and 23 Hours
Autophagy is a prosurvival mechanism for the clearance of accumulated abnormal proteins, damaged organelles, and excessive lipids within mammalian cells. A growing body of data indicates that autophagy is reduced in aging cells. This reduction leads to various diseases, such as myocardial hypertrophy, infarction, and atherosclerosis. Recent studies in animal models of an aging heart showed that fasting-induced autophagy improved cardiac function and longevity. This improvement is related to autophagic clearance of damaged cellular components via either bulk or selective autophagy (such as mitophagy). In this editorial, we summarize the mechanisms of autophagy in normal and aging hearts. In addition, the protective effect of fasting-induced autophagy in cardiac aging has been highlighted.
Core Tip: Autophagy is an essential mechanism for the clearance of harmful cellular components, which accumulate with age. However, autophagic machinery decreases with age, resulting in various diseases, such as cardiac hypertrophy. Recently, fasting-induced autophagy has been reported to improve cardiac function in animal models of aging via normalization of defective autophagic machinery. Therefore, autophagy is an important target for the prevention of cardiac pathologies in the geriatric population.