Abstract
Diabetes and its complications reduce quality of life and are life-limiting. At present, diabetes treatment consists of hypoglycemic agents to control blood glucose and the use of insulin-sensitizing drugs to overcome insulin resistance. In diabetes, autophagy is impaired and thus there is poor intracellular environment homeostasis. Pancreatic β-cells and insulin target tissues are protected by enhancing autophagy. Autophagy decreases β-cell apoptosis, promotes β-cell proliferation, and alleviates insulin resistance. Autophagy in diabetes is regulated by the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway and others. Autophagy enhancers can likely be used as a treatment for diabetes and its complications. This review examines the evidence linking autophagy to diabetes.
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The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This work was supported by grants from the Hubei Province Scientific Research Project of Health Commission (No. WJ2021Q015), the Yangtze Fund for Youth Teams of Science and Technology Innovation (No. 2016cqt04), Central Funds Guiding the Local Science and Technology Development of Hubei Province (No. 2019ZYYD066), and Joint Foundation of the Health Commission of Hubei Province (No. WJ2018H173).
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Wang, Lh., Wang, Yy., Liu, L. et al. From Diabetes to Diabetic Complications: Role of Autophagy. CURR MED SCI 43, 434–444 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-023-2727-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-023-2727-4