MAP1LC3A and atherosclerosis: Previous studies have indicated that macrophage autophagy has a protective role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis,2, 30 and autophagy shares many common stimuli with apoptosis.31, 32 To explore the role of HY-SDT on autophagy, we assessed macrophage autophagy by GFP-LC3 transfection32 and acridine orange staining33 at 6 h following HY-SDT.