Hao Kang,1,2,* Fansu Meng,3,* Fengjie Liu,4 Mengjie Xie,4 Haibiao Lai,3 Pengfei Li,5 Xingwang Zhang4 

1Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Anhui College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhu, People’s Republic of China; 2Wuhu Modern Technology Research and Development Center of Chinese Medicine and Functional Food, Wuhu, People’s Republic of China; 3Zhongshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhongshan, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Oncology, Integrated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Haibiao Lai; Xingwang Zhang, Email lhb8829@163.com; zhangxw@jnu.edu.cn

Abstract: Ferroptosis, a unique form of regulated cell death driven by iron-dependent lethal lipid peroxidation, is implicated in various stress-related diseases like neurodegeneration, vasculopathy, and metabolic disturbance. Stress-related diseases encompass widespread medical disorders that are influenced or exacerbated by stress. These stressors can manifest in various organ or tissue systems and have significant implications for human overall health. Understanding ferroptosis in these diseases offers insights for therapeutic strategies targeting relevant pathways. This review explores ferroptosis mechanisms, its role in pathophysiology, its connection to stress-related diseases, and the potential of ferroptosis-targeted nanomedicines in treating conditions. This monograph also delves into the engineering of ferroptosis-targeted nanomedicines for tackling stress-related diseases, including cancer, cardia-cerebrovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Anyhow, nanotherapy targeting ferroptosis holds promise by both promoting and suppressing ferroptosis for managing stress-related diseases.

Keywords: ferroptosis, stress-related diseases, lipid peroxidation, nanoparticles, nanomedicine, targeted therapy