Mechanistic insights into fasting-induced autophagy in the aging heart

World J Cardiol. 2024 Mar 26;16(3):109-117. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v16.i3.109.ABSTRACTAutophagy 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.PMID:38576517 | PMC:PMC10989221 | DOI:10.4330/wjc.v16.i3.109

Source: World Journal of Cardiology - April 5, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Hannaneh Parvaresh Katarzyna Paczek Md Abdul Alim Al-Bari Nabil Eid Source Type: research