4. Conclusion
In order to solve the above
problems, we may find clues from the following aspects: (i) Excavating
high-specific autophagy biomarkers and optimal cardiac hypertrophy
animal models: Under ideal conditions, high-specific autophagy
biomarkers may be autophagy-related genes and proteins in blood and
urine, which can accurately reflect the exact autophagic activity of the
myocardia at different stages [77]. Then, reflecting disease
progression through changes in autophagic biomarkers can not only reduce
the damage to the patient’s body and the economic burden, but also
effectively reflect the disease process and provide an important
reference for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy. (ii) Ensuring the
specificity of autophagy modulators: We can monitor the process of
disease through the changes of autophagy biomarkers, and then use
autophagy inhibitors/inducers to treat diseases accordingly. Due to the
complex metabolic process of drugs in vivo, the mechanism of the drug
efficacy must be clear to effectively avoid the side effects of the
drugs, so as to improve the safety and effectiveness of the drugs.
Therefore, the specificity of autophagy modulators is crucial. (iii)
Real-time monitoring: since autophagy is a double-edged sword, real-time
monitoring of autophagy status and drug blood concentration in patients
taking autophagy modulators is needed to avoid excessive or insufficient
regulation which may aggravate the disease [78].
Overall, existing studies have shown that the role of autophagy on
cardiac hypertrophy requires specific analysis and autophagy may be a
potential therapeutic target for pathological cardiac hypertrophy.
However, the current therapeutic mechanism related to autophagy remains
to be further studied. Research and development of autophagy modulators
represented by miRNAs may be important potential strategies for treating
pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Additionally, since the existing
autophagy modulators often have low specificity, improving the specific
therapeutic efficacy of autophagy modulators may be a very important
research hotspot in the future.