Abstract
Iron is an essential element and the most abundant trace metal in the body involved in oxygen transport and oxygen sensing, electron transfer, energy metabolism, and DNA synthesis. Excess labile and unchelated iron can catalyze the formation of tissue-damaging radicals and induce oxidative stress. English abstracts were identified in PubMed and Google Scholar using multiple and various search terms based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Full-length articles were selected for systematic review, and secondary and tertiary references were developed. Although bloodletting or phlebotomy remains the gold standard in the management of iron overload, this systematic review is an updated account of the pitfalls of phlebotomy and classical synthetic chelators with scientific justification for the use of natural iron chelators of dietary origin in resource-poor nations.
Highlights
Iron is an essential nutrient and a vital moiety of many proteins like iron-sulfur clusters, heme moieties of cytochromes b, c, and cytochrome P450 that partake in oxidative phosphorylation and xenobiotics detoxification [1,2,3,4]
Further review of the full texts of the remaining articles with the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria resulted in the exclusion of 13 additional articles, leaving 38 studies that were included in this review (Figure 1)
Some Diseases Associated with Iron Overload and eir Prevalence in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA)
Summary
Iron is an essential nutrient and a vital moiety of many proteins like iron-sulfur clusters (found in complex I and II, which are important for redox reactions involved in respiration, cellular energy metabolism, DNA synthesis, cell growth, and proliferation), heme moieties of cytochromes b, c, and cytochrome P450 that partake in oxidative phosphorylation and xenobiotics detoxification [1,2,3,4]. In view of the prohibitive cost, nonavailability and wide range of adverse effects of classical iron chelators may contribute to resorting to natural chelators in the management of iron overload in resource-poor nations. Is systematic review seeks to provide evidence for the multimodal mechanistic considerations and beneficial roles of natural iron chelators in the management of various conditions of iron overload in resource-poor nations. As much as possible this paper has highlighted the relevance and preference of natural iron chelators over phlebotomy
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