Mice were first subjected to AB for 4 weeks to induce chronic heart failure; then, they were treated with intraperitoneal injections of 0.5 mg/g AICAR (AMPK activator) for another 4 weeks. Control mice received an equal volume of normal saline. (A–C) Representative immunoblots and quantitative analysis of LC3B, beclin-1, and p62 expression in the hearts. *P<0.05 compared with the corresponding sham control group; ^#P<0.05 compared with the NS + sham group; and ^$P<0.05 compared with the NS + AB group (each experiment was repeated four times, n=4).