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©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 28, 2023; 29(4): 616-655
Published online Jan 28, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i4.616
Published online Jan 28, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i4.616
Iron as a therapeutic target in chronic liver disease
Elias Kouroumalis, Liver Research Laboratory, University of Crete Medical School, Heraklion 71003, Greece
Ioannis Tsomidis, Argyro Voumvouraki, First Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki 54621, Greece
Author contributions: Kouroumalis E contributed to the conception and design of the study and revised the final draft of the manuscript; Tsomidis I and Voumvouraki A contributed to literature search, drafting of the manuscript, and providing approval of the final version to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report having no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Elias Kouroumalis, MD, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Liver Research Laboratory, University of Crete Medical School, 13 Kalokerinou Street, Voutes, Heraklion 71003, Greece. kouroumi@uoc.gr
Received: October 2, 2022
Peer-review started: October 2, 2022
First decision: October 29, 2022
Revised: November 3, 2022
Accepted: December 30, 2022
Article in press: December 30, 2022
Published online: January 28, 2023
Peer-review started: October 2, 2022
First decision: October 29, 2022
Revised: November 3, 2022
Accepted: December 30, 2022
Article in press: December 30, 2022
Published online: January 28, 2023
Core Tip
Core Tip: Iron overload may damage the liver in a variety of liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma affecting patient survival. In this review, we present the evidence, both experimental and clinical, of the detrimental effects of iron deposition in hepatocytes and other liver sinusoidal cells. Moreover, we examine the mechanism and implications of the recently described ferroptosis in the evolution of liver disease. Ferroptosis is a form of regulated hepatocyte death caused by excess iron and lipid peroxidation. Inhibition or induction of ferroptosis may profoundly improve the course of many liver diseases as demonstrated by a large number of experimental studies as well as a small number of clinical trials.