Atherosclerosis (AS) is the most common causes of cardiovascular disease characterized by the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the arterial wall, and it has become a dominant public health problem that seriously threaten people worldwide. Autophagy is a cellular self-catabolism process, which is critical to protect cellular homeostasis against harmful conditions. Emerging evidence suggest that dysregulated autophagy is involved in the development of AS. Therefore, pharmacological interventions have been developed to inhibit the AS via autophagy induction. Among various AS treating methods, herbal medicines and natural products have been applied as effective complementary and alternative medicines to ameliorate AS and its associated cardiovascular disease. Recently, mounting evidence revealed that natural bioactive compounds from herbs and natural products could induce autophagy to suppress the occurrence and development of AS, by promoting cholesterol efflux, reducing plaque inflammation, and inhibiting apoptosis or senescence. In the present review, we highlight recent findings regarding possible effects and molecular mechanism of natural compounds in autophagy-targeted mitigation of atherosclerosis, aiming to provide new potential therapeutic strategies for the atherosclerosis treatment preclinically and clinically.

动脉粥样硬化(AS)是以动脉壁形成动脉粥样硬化斑块为特征的心血管疾病最常见的病因，已成为严重威胁全世界人民的主要公共卫生问题。自噬是一种细胞自我分解代谢过程，对于保护细胞稳态免受有害条件的影响至关重要。新出现的证据表明失调的自噬与 AS 的发展有关。因此，已经开发出药理学干预措施来通过自噬诱导抑制 AS。在各种 AS 治疗方法中，草药和天然产物已被用作有效的补充和替代药物，以改善 AS 及其相关的心血管疾病。最近，越来越多的证据表明，来自草药和天然产物的天然生物活性化合物可以通过促进胆固醇流出、减少斑块炎症、抑制细胞凋亡或衰老来诱导自噬，从而抑制 AS 的发生和发展。在本综述中，我们重点介绍了天然化合物在自噬靶向缓解动脉粥样硬化中的可能作用和分子机制的最新发现，旨在为动脉粥样硬化的临床前和临床治疗提供新的潜在治疗策略。