Autophagy is a cellular housekeeping and quality control mechanism that is essential for homeostasis and survival. By virtue of this role, any perturbations to the flow of this process in cardiac or vascular cells can elicit harmful effects on the cardiovascular system, and subsequently affect whole organismal health. In this chapter, we summarize the preclinical evidence supporting the role of autophagy in sustaining cardiovascular health during homeostasis and disease. Furthermore, we discuss how autophagy activation by dietary, genetic and pharmaceutical interventions can be exploited to counteract common cardiovascular disorders, including atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, diabetic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity and heart failure.

自噬是一种细胞内务处理和质量控制机制，对于动态平衡和生存至关重要。由于这种作用，对心脏或血管细胞中该过程的任何扰动都会引起对心血管系统的有害影响，进而影响整个机体健康。在本章中，我们总结了支持自噬在稳态和疾病期间维持心血管健康的作用的临床前证据。此外，我们讨论了如何通过饮食，遗传和药物干预来激活自噬来抵抗常见的心血管疾病，包括动脉粥样硬化，冠状动脉疾病，糖尿病性心肌病，心律不齐，化疗引起的心脏毒性和心力衰竭。