Vascular aging is a physiological, multifactorial process that involves every type of vessel, from large arteries to microcirculation. This manifests itself as impaired vasomotor function, altered secretory phenotype, deteriorated intercellular transport function, structural remodeling, and aggravated barrier function between the blood and the vascular smooth muscle layer.
Iron disorders, particularly
iron overload, may lead to oxidative stress and, among other effects, vascular aging. The elevated
transferrin saturation and serum
iron levels observed in
iron overload lead to the formation of a non-
transferrin-bound
iron (NTBI) fraction with high
pro-oxidant activity. NTBI can induce the production of
reactive oxygen species (ROS), which induce lipid peroxidation and mediate
iron-related damage as the elements of oxidative stress in many tissues, including heart and vessels' mitochondria. However, the available data make it difficult to precisely determine the impact of
iron metabolism disorders on vascular aging; therefore, the relationship requires further investigation. Our study aims to present the current state of knowledge on vascular aging in patients with deteriorated
iron metabolism.