Redefining the role of autophagy in diabetic vascular diseases

Diabetic vascular disease, as one of the common complications in diabetic patients, threatens the quality of life and health of patients.Autophagy maintains cellular homeostasis and survival as an important intracellular self-repair mechanism.In recent years, with the gradual deepening of autophagy research, more and more studies have found that vascular cells such as endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and inflammatory cells are closely associated with various autophagy disorders.Different autophagy regulatory mechanisms can lead to different or similar cellular outcomes, and there are complex crosstalk mechanisms in the process.Therefore, we will summarize the latest research progresses with regards to the role of autophagy in diabetic vascular disease, focusing on the complex regulatory mechanisms of mitophagy, epigenetic modifications, apoptosis, inflammation, and autophagy in the development of diabetic vascular disease, aiming to provide effective therapeutic targets for diabetic vascular injury.