Antioxidant and chelator cocktails to prevent oxidative stress under iron-overload conditions

Abstract

Iron overload conditions are found in hereditary hemochromatosis and transfusion-dependent patients. Thalassemia is one of the most common genetic diseases worldwide and all β-thalassemia major patients are transfusion-dependent, which leads to iron overload. Under iron overload conditions, the nontransferrin-bound iron have been found to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Excess ROS lead to oxidative stress conditions that cause damage to several cellular components, resulting in several organs’ dysfunction. Growing evidence demonstrates that several antioxidant compounds attenuate oxidative stress and tissue-iron deposition, increase antioxidant levels, and attenuate organ dysfunction under iron-overloaded conditions. Although an iron chelator is standard treatment in iron-overload cases, the use of an antioxidant combined with an iron chelator may enhance its therapeutic efficacy under these conditions. In this chapter, the combined effects of iron chelator and antioxidants on oxidative stress, antioxidants, and iron status in iron-overload conditions are comprehensively summarized and discussed.