Cited by 242Iron Metabolism and DisordersHeavy Metal Exposure and ToxicityErythropoietin and Anemia Treatment

Synthetic and natural iron chelators: Therapeutic potential and clinical use

Open access
Hatcher, Heather C, Singh, Ravi N, Torti, Frank M, Torti, Suzy V·2009·Future Medicinal Chemistry

Abstract

Iron-chelation therapy has its origins in the treatment of iron-overload syndromes. For many years, the standard for this purpose has been deferoxamine. Recently, considerable progress has been made in identifying synthetic chelators with improved pharmacologic properties relative to deferoxamine. Most notable are deferasirox (Exjade(®)) and deferiprone (Ferriprox(®)), which are now available clinically. In addition to treatment of iron overload, there is an emerging role for iron chelators in the treatment of diseases characterized by oxidative stress, including cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. While iron is not regarded as the underlying cause of these diseases, it does play an important role in disease progression, either through promotion of cellular growth and proliferation or through participation in redox reactions that catalyze the formation of reactive oxygen species and increase oxidative stress. Thus, iron chelators may be of therapeutic benefit in many of these conditions. Phytochemicals, many of which bind iron, may also owe some of their beneficial properties to iron chelation. This review will focus on the advances in iron-chelation therapy for the treatment of iron-overload disease and cancer, as well as neurodegenerative and chronic inflammatory diseases. Established and novel iron chelators will be discussed, as well as the emerging role of dietary plant polyphenols that effectively modulate iron biochemistry.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.4155/fmc.09.121

Cites

250 of 250 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The natural siderophore desferrioxamine (DFO) as well as the synthetic chelator derasirox (DFX) and the thiosemicarbazone Triapine have shown promising anti-cancer activity in clinical trials.

    “For instance, the natural siderophore desferrioxamine (DFO, Desferal®) [134,135] as well as the synthetic chelator derasirox (DFX, Exiade), which are clinically employed to treat iron overload due to chronic blood transfusion therapy [134], and the thiosemicarbazone Triapine® [136,137] have shown promising anti-cancer activity in clinical trials [138].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [121]Yang LP Keam SJ Keating GM Deferasirox: a review of its use in the management of transfusional chronic iron overload Drugs 2007 67 2211 2230 17927285
  2. [200]Youdim KA McDonald J Kalt W Joseph JA Potential role of dietary flavonoids in reducing microvascular endothelium vulnerability to oxidative and inflammatory insults (small star, filled) J. Nutr. Biochem 2002 13 282 288 12015158

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hatcher, H. C., Singh, R. N., Torti, F. M., & Torti, S. V.
Affiliations
  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
  • Department of Cancer Biology, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Corresponding author
Torti, Suzy V
Venue
Future Medicinal Chemistry
Published
2009-12
Volume
1
Issue
9
Pages
1643-1670
ISSN
  • 1756-8919 (ISSN-L)
  • 1756-8927
OpenAlex
W1989031118
Cited by
242
References
250
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 5
FWCI
0.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Future Medicinal Chemistry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (R01DK71892)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Erythropoietin and Anemia Treatment
Keywords
iron chelators, iron overload, deferoxamine, deferasirox, deferiprone, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, cancer therapy, neurodegenerative diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, plant polyphenols, phytochemicals
MeSH terms
Humans, Iron Chelating Agents, Siderophores, Oxidative Stress, Iron Overload

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review