Iron deficiency and body vulnerability to the toxic effect of heavy metals: a personalized approach to bioprevention in preventive medicine (literature review)

Introduction. An important stage in creating bioprophylactic complexes is the selection of their components, which requires trustworthy and detailed science-based substantiation for the inclusion of certain elements. Iron is one of such components, given the high prevalence of iron deficiency in the population and the essential role of this trace metal in various physiological processes involved in maintaining the resistance of the organism to heavy metal toxicity. Yet, the issue of a systematic and comprehensive analysis of scientific data confirming this role remains relevant.

The aim of this review is to collect, summarize, and systematize research data on characteristics of the mechanisms underlying the development and manifestation of iron deficiency conditions associated with heavy metal toxicity to develop bioprophylactic measures within the framework of personalized medicine.

We searched for English and Russian-language reports on the topic issued in 2007–2025 in PubMed, Scopus, eLIBRARY.RU, and CyberLeninka databases. Of 250 articles found, 41 full-text report was selected based on the inclusion criteria.

Our findings show that iron deficiency can enhance toxic effects of heavy metals and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Dysregulation of iron also mediates the toxic effects of pollutants on the central nervous system, kidney, liver, blood, and hematopoietic organs. Iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, mediated by ferroptosis, is considered one of the key mechanisms.

Conclusion. Iron deficiency reduces the adaptive potential and resistance of the organism to the toxic effects of pollutants. Experimental data confirm the importance of ferroptosis in toxic responses at the cellular level and open up a new attitude vision of preventive medicine on prevention of this effect.

Contributions:
Nikogosyan K.M. – data collection and processing, data analysis, draft manuscript preparation;
Minigalieva I.A. – study conception and design, editing;
Sutunkova M.P. – study conception and design;
Dubrovin D.A. – data collection.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Statement on the use of artificial intelligence tools. No AI tools were used in the preparation of this article.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: March 6, 2026 / Revised: April 21, 2026 / Accepted: July 1, 2026 / Published: September 28, 2026

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