BACKGROUND Clinical and experimental studies have revealed that liraglutide has multiple anti-diabetes biological effects. However， little is known about its role in autophagy and pancreatic β cell proliferation. This study aimed to assessed the effects of liraglutide on pancreatic b cell proliferation and autophagy in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. MATERIAL AND METHODS The effect of liraglutide on autophagy and proliferation in pancreatic β cells was investigated using a high-fat-fed and streptozotocin-induced mouse model of type 2 diabetes. RESULTS Liraglutide significantly improved the symptoms of high-fat-fed (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic mice， as indicated by body weight gain， reduction of blood glucose and plasma insulin， and enhanced sensitivity to insulin. The results of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis showed that liraglutide upregulated AGT5 expression and promoted the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II， thus improving the defective autophagy. In addition， we observed that both mRNA and protein expressions of PCNA and Ki-67 were upregulated by liraglutide treatment. Immunocytochemical staining results showed that the number of PCNA- or Ki-67-positive cells in pancreatic islet tissues in the HFD + STZ + liraglutide group were increased compared with the HFD + STZ group. CONCLUSIONS These results strongly suggest that liraglutide is able to enhance autophagy and promote pancreatic β cell proliferation. This study improves our insights into the mechanism by which liraglutide treatment relieves diabetes， and provides experimental evidence for clinical utilization of liraglutide in type 2 diabetes treatment.