Objective To investigate the role of autophagy in the improvement of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats by Wushen-Shunmai capsule. Methods Following establishment of a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury model, rats were randomly divided into sham, model, Wushen-Shunmai capsule, and autophagy inhibitor ( Wushen- Shunmai capsule+LY294002) groups, with 15 rats in each group. The concentrations of serum cardiac troponin I ( cTnI) and creatine kinase isoenzyme MB ( CK-MB ) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ) . Myocardial infarction volume was measured by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride ( TTC) staining, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis was detected by terminal dexynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling ( TUNEL) assay. The number of autophagy events was counted under electron microscope, while the expression of total PI3K, Akt, mammalian rapamycin target protein (mTOR) and its phosphorylated protein, and autophagy marker microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 ( LC3) was detected by Western blot. Results Compared with the sham group, serum cTnI, CK-MB concentration, myocardial infarction area ratio, apoptosis index, autophagy number, myocardial LC3-II/ LC3-I, caspase 3, and Bax were significantly higher in the model group ( P< 0. 05) , and the levels of p-PI3K/ PI3K, p-Akt / Akt, p- mTOR/ mTOR, and Bcl2 were significantly lower ( P< 0. 05) . Compared with the model group, serum cTnI, CK-MB concentration, myocardial infarction area ratio, apoptosis index, autophagy number, myocardial LC3-II/ LC3-I, caspase 3, and Bax were significantly lower in the Wushen-Shunmai capsule group (P<0. 05) , and the levels of p-PI3K/ PI3K, p-Akt / Akt, p-mTOR/ mTOR, and Bcl2 were significantly higher (P<0. 05) . Compared with the Wushen-Shunmai capsule group, serum cTnI, CK-MB concentration, myocardial infarction area ratio, apoptosis index, autophagy number, myocardial LC3-II/ LC3-I, caspase 3, and Bax were significantly higher in the autophagy inhibitor group (P<0. 05) , and the levels of p-PI3K/ PI3K, p-Akt / Akt, p-mTOR/ mTOR and Bcl2 were significantly lower (P<0. 05) . Conclusions Wushen-Shunmai capsule inhibits excessive autophagy of myocardial cells and plays a protective role in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury.