Therapeutic Potential of Iron Chelating Therapy: Modification of Disease by Iron Depletion

After a delay of almost two decades, desferrioxamine (DF) has been reintroduced for clinical use by the pioneering work of British investigators such as Michael Berry, Bernadette Modell, Martin Pippard and Victor Hoffbrand (1). The widespread use of DF was firmly established thanks to the exceptional devotion of our Italian colleagues. In the following, I shall focus on the impact of iron chelating treatment on survival in Thalassemia; examine the mechanism whereby DF protects the heart from iron toxicity, and: examine the potential usefulness of iron chelators in conditions unrelated to iron overload.