Ferroptosis: new insight into the mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Aug 3:14:1215292. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1215292. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are the most serious and common diabetes-associated complications. DN and DR are all highly prevalent and dangerous global diseases, but the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Ferroptosis, a relatively recently described type of cell death, has been confirmed to be involved in the occurrence and development of various diabetic complications. The disturbance of cellular iron metabolism directly triggers ferroptosis, and abnormal iron metabolism is closely related to diabetes. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the role of ferroptosis in DN and DR is still unclear, and needs further study. In this review article, we summarize and evaluate the mechanism of ferroptosis and its role and progress in DN and DR, it provides new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of DN and DR.

Keywords: diabetic nephropathy; diabetic retinopathy; ferroptosis; oxidative stress; regulatory cell death.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Diabetes Mellitus*
  • Diabetic Nephropathies* / etiology
  • Diabetic Retinopathy* / etiology
  • Ferroptosis*
  • Humans
  • Iron
  • Retinal Diseases*

Substances

  • Iron

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Local Colleges and Universities Talent Development Funding from Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Finance (No. 2020GSP09), the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (No. LH2022H099), the Basic Scientific Research Project of University belongs to Heilongjiang (No. 2020-KYYWF-0771), the Traditional Chinese Medicine Scientific Research Fund Project of Heilongjiang Province (No. ZYW2022-090) and the Project of Young Innovative Talents Training Program of Regular Undergraduate Colleges and Universities in Heilongjiang Province (No. UNPYSCT-2020064).