Devil or angel: A review of autophagy in ischemia-reperfusion injury

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a secondary injury that occurs after recanalization of the blood flow in ischemic tissues or organs. Autophagy is a lysosome-dependent cellular process that eliminates misfolded proteins and functionally impaired organelles to maintain intracellular homeostasis. Autophagy plays a pivotal role in IRI occurrence and development. Autophagy acts as a "double-edged sword" in this context, and its role (positive or negative) in IRI remains controversial, complicating efforts to target autophagy to alleviate IRI. In this review, we explore the role of autophagy in various IRI diseases with the aim of providing insights for research focused on mitigating IRI through autophagy regulation.