Autophagy is a process of degrading the damaged organelles and macromolecules by lysosomes in cells, which belongs to the programmed cell death. Cerebral ischemia is one of the important reasons for activation of autophagy. Studies have showed that autophagy plays a protective role in neuronal death induced by ischemia. However, it has also been found that excessive activation of autophagy could aggravate cerebral ischemia injury. In recent years, more and more Chinese medicine has been proved to regulate the autophagy level of brain neurons and reduce cerebral ischemia injury. In this paper, the main molecular mechanism of autophagy in the process of cerebral ischemic injury and the intervention effects of Chinese herbs on autophagy arereviewed in order to explore the basic principle of regulating autophagy by Chinese herbs and to play a better role in the clinical treatment of cerebral ischemic diseases.

Autophagy is a process of degrading the damaged organelles and macromolecules by lysosomes in cells, which belongs to the programmed cell death. Cerebral ischemia is one of the important reasons for activation of autophagy. Studies have showed that autophagy plays a protective role in neuronal death induced by ischemia. However, it has also been found that excessive activation of autophagy could aggravate cerebral ischemia injury. In recent years, more and more Chinese medicine has been proved to regulate the autophagy level of brain neurons and reduce cerebral ischemia injury. In this paper, the main molecular mechanism of autophagy in the process of cerebral ischemic injury and the intervention effects of Chinese herbs on autophagy arereviewed in order to explore the basic principle of regulating autophagy by Chinese herbs and to play a better role in the clinical treatment of cerebral ischemic diseases.
Autophagy ; Brain Ischemia ; Cell Death ; Cerebral Infarction ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional