[Regulatory effects of traditional Chinese medicine on autophagy in myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury].

Autophagy is a basic process of eliminating unnecessary or damaged organelles by lysosome to maintain the internal environment homeostasis. Recent studies have revealed that autophagy plays an important role in pathology of myocardial ischemia reperfusion. In the phase of ischemia, moderate autophagy can protect the cells against various stress; but in the phase of reperfusion, excessive autophagy can increase the death of cells. Therefore, the dual role of autophagy in myocardial ischemia reperfusion provides a new therapeutic target for the treatment of heart disease. In recent years, more and more Chinese medicines have been proved to adjust the autophagy in myocardial cells, and protect the damaged myocardium by enhancing or inhibiting autophagy. This article would review the molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its role in myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury as well as the regulation effect of Chinese medicine on it.