Table 1.

Role of autophagy in cardiovascular complications.

CVD Model	Autophagy in the CVS	Consequence(s)
Cardiac hypertrophy	Inhibited	Cardiomyocyte growth [16–18, 76–80]
Ischemia/reperfusion	Inhibited Activated	Cardiomyocyte survival [81, 82] Cardiomyocyte survival [83]
Heart failure	Activated	Removal of damaged organelles [30] Progressive destruction of cardiomyocytes [30, 31] Adaptive mechanism to the failing heart [33]
Arrhythmias	Inhibited	Atrial fibrillation [22] Mitrial and tricuspid regurgitation [23] Myolysis of cardiomyocytes [23]
Atherosclerosis	Activated	Inhibition of autophagy leads to apoptosis of macrophages and plaque instability Activation leads to VSMC death [84] Over activation may lead to cell death in macrophages and VSMCs [39]
Restenosis	Not determined	Activation of autophagy leads to inhibition of VSMC proliferation [42] Activation with rapamycin prevents endothelial healing [51, 85]
Aortic aneurysm	Activated	Activation of autophagy leads to VSMC death and rupture of vessels [43]