Table 2.

Selected FDA-approved drugs, pharmacological agents and nutritional compounds that modulate autophagy.

Autophagy inducers	Mechanism of action	References
FDA-approved-drugs
Rapamycin	Induces autophagy by inhibiting mTORC1	[194,195,196]
Metformin	Upregulates AMPK, which promotes autophagy by inducing ULK1 phosphorylation	[197,198]
Isoniazid	Activates autophagy flux, oxidative stress and upregulates AMPK	[199]
Vitamin D3	Upregulates cathelicidin	[200,201]
Vitamin C	Antioxidant	[202]
Vitamin E	Antioxidant	[203]
Lithium	Lowers inositol and Ins(1,4,5)P" levels	[204]
Sodium valproate	Lowers inositol and Ins(1,4,5)P" levels	[196,204]
Carbamazepine	Lowers inositol and Ins(1,4,5)P" levels	[196,204]
Verapamil	Lowers intracytosolic Ca2+ levels	[196]
Clonidine and rilmenidine	Lower cAMP levels	[196]
Anti-psychotic drugs	Inhibit autophagy	[205]
Statins	Lower membrane cholesterol levels, thereby preventing cholesterol-dependent pore-forming toxins from forming pores	[206]
Pharmacological agents
17-hydroxy-jolkinolide B	Activates heme oxygenase-1 expression	[207]
L-NAME	Decreases nitric oxide formation to induce autophagy	[208]
Nutritional compounds
Resveratrol	Activates sirtuin 1 (histone deacetylase)	[209,210,211]
Epicatechins	Inhibit LPS-induced HMGB1 upregulation by stimulating its autophagic degradation	[212,213]
Catalase	Antioxidant	[214]
Chloroquine	Inhibits autophagosome-lysosome fusion	[215,216]
Vinblastine	Inhibits microtubule formation	[217]
Nocodazole	Inhibits microtubule formation and inhibits autophagosome-lysosome fusion	[218,219]
3-methyladenine, Wortmannin and LY294002	Inhibit phosphatidylinositol 3-3-kinase	[220]

AMPK: AMP-activated protein kinase; cAMP cyclic AMP; Ins(1,4,5)P₃: inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate; L-NAME: N-l-arginine methyl ester; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; mTORC1, mTOR complex 1; ULK1, Uncoordinated 51-like kinase 1; HMGB1, high mobility group B-1.