Autophagy and metabolic homeostasis: Exploration in obesity‑related metabolic diseases (Review)

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process in which excessive nutrients, toxic protein aggregates, damaged organelles, and invading microorganisms in the cytoplasm can be isolated by the double‑membrane structure of autophagosomes and delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Over the past two decades, research on autophagy has made significant progress. Autophagy not only plays a crucial role in maintaining intracellular homeostasis but also contributes to the development of various metabolic diseases. Metabolic imbalance of nutrients in obesity‑related metabolic diseases can interfere with the autophagy process through a variety of mechanisms, resulting in further aggravation of the pathological damage of related organs. However, under certain conditions, inhibition of autophagy can have beneficial effects, thereby alleviating some of the harmful consequences of obesity. In this review, we will focus on the latest advances in the study of autophagy in obesity‑related metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes, non‑alcoholic fatty liver disease, and atherosclerosis. We will systematically discuss the definition and types of autophagy, the regulation of autophagy by nutrients, the imbalance of autophagy in obesity‑related metabolic diseases and its molecular mechanism, and finally, we will summarize some drugs targeting the autophagy pathway.