Relationship of autophagy and inflammatory processes of cardiovascular disease

Autophagy, a highly conserved cell degradation process and a programmed cell death process, can maintain intracellular homeostasis. Cardiovascular diseases are accompanied by inflammatory response and are closely related to autophagy. Recent studies reveal that on one hand, autophagy can protect against inflammation in the cardiovascular system through removing accumulated protein and maintaining mitochondria homeostasis. This effect is related to suppressing inflammasome and calpain-dependent IL-1α activation. On the other hand, autophagy can promote inflammatory reaction under some circumstances. ATG factors and a specialized unconventional secretion regulator Golgi reassembly-stacking protein (GRASP) may be involved in this pro-inflammatory effect. This paper reviews the research progress of autophagy in inflammation of cardiovascular disease and discusses related molecular mechanisms between autophagy and inflammation so as to provide some new insight into the treatment of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases.