Research
Hormonal
Autophagy is downregulated in the aging heart, and this suppression contributes to cardiac pathology by allowing the accumulation of misfolded proteins and dysfunctional mitochondria.
Maintaining cellular cleanup processes (autophagy) is critical for heart health as you age. While this paper focuses on mechanisms, lifestyle factors known to stimulate autophagy (like caloric restriction or exercise) may help mitigate age-related cardiac decline by preventing the buildup of damaged proteins and mitochondria.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Autophagy and autophagic flux are generally decreased in aging hearts, and murine autophagy loss-of-function models develop exacerbated cardiac dysfunction that is accompanied by the accumulation of misfolded proteins and dysfunctional organelles.
Why this rating
Based on a comprehensive review of multiple animal models (mice, flies, worms) and genetic studies.
Source
Aging and Autophagy in the Heart
Akihiro Shirakabe et al. · Circulation Research · 2016
DOI 10.1161/circresaha.116.307474
narrative_reviewCited 442×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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