Research progress on the relationship between autophagy and chronic complications of diabetes

Xia Ge; Ling Wang; Aihua Fei; Shandong Ye; Qingping Zhang

doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.956344

Research progress on the relationship between autophagy and chronic complications of diabetes

Front Physiol. 2022 Aug 8:13:956344. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.956344. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xia Ge¹, Ling Wang², Aihua Fei¹, Shandong Ye³, Qingping Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Endocrinology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
² Graduate School of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
³ Department of Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
⁴ College of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.

Abstract

Diabetes is a common metabolic disease whose hyperglycemic state can induce diverse complications and even threaten human health and life security. Currently, the treatment of diabetes is restricted to drugs that regulate blood glucose and have certain accompanying side effects. Autophagy, a research hotspot, has been proven to be involved in the occurrence and progression of the chronic complications of diabetes. Autophagy, as an essential organismal defense mechanism, refers to the wrapping of cytoplasmic proteins, broken organelles or pathogens by vesicles, which are then degraded by lysosomes to maintain the stability of the intracellular environment. Here, we review the relevant aspects of autophagy and the molecular mechanisms of autophagy in diabetic chronic complications, and further analyze the impact of improving autophagy on diabetic chronic complications, which will contribute to a new direction for further prevention and treatment of diabetic chronic complications.

Keywords: autophagy; chronic complications; diabetes drug; molecular mechanism; regulation.

Publication types

Review