Proteoglycan degradation contributing to the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is induced by inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor‑α (TNF‑α) and interleukin‑1β (IL‑1β). Cell autophagy exists in degenerative diseases, including osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc degeneration. However, the autophagy induced by TNF‑α and IL‑1β and the corresponding molecular mechanism appear to be cell‑type dependent. The effect and mechanism of autophagy regulated by TNF‑α and IL‑1β in IVDs remains unclear. Additionally, the impact of autophagy on the catabolic effect in inflammatory conditions also remains elusive. In the present study, autophagy activator and inhibitor were used to demonstrate the impact of autophagy on the catabolic effect induced by TNF‑α. A critical role of autophagy was identified in rat nucleus pulposus (NP) cells: Inhibition of autophagy suppresses, while activation of autophagy enhances, the catabolic effect of cytokines. Subsequently, the autophagy‑related gene expression in rat NP cells following TNF‑α and IL‑1β treatment was observed using immunofluorescence, quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis; however, no association was present. In addition, nuclear factor κB (NF‑κB), c‑Jun N‑terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular signal‑regulated kinases and p38 mitogen‑activated protein kinase inhibitors and TNF‑α were used to determine the molecular mechanism of autophagy during the inflammatory conditions, and only the NF‑κB and JNK inhibitor were found to enhance the autophagy of rat NP cells. Finally, IKKβ knockdown was used to further confirm the effect of the NF‑κB signal on human NP cells autophagy, and the data showed that IKKβ knockdown upregulated the autophagy of NP cells during inflammatory conditions.