Regulation of ferroptosis and mitochondrial homeostasis disruption in diabetic cardiomyopathy: Therapeutic potential of traditional Chinese medicine

Figure 1 Graphic abstract. Mitochondrial quality control and iron metabolism form a synergistic crosstalk in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). Impaired mitochondrial dynamics, biogenesis, and mitophagy, together with Fe²⁺ overload, oxidative stress, and lipid metabolism imbalance, contribute to ferroptosis, mitochondrial injury, and DCM progression. Current therapeutic strategies include sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, iron chelators, mitochondrial protectants, and multi-target traditional Chinese medicine. Created with BioRender. DCM: Diabetic cardiomyopathy; SGLT2i: Sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors; GLP-1RA: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist; ROS: Reactive oxygen species.