SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Bone Research
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Bone RemodelingView all 9 articles
The Role of Ferroptosis in Osteoporosis: A Cellular Perspective on Osteoblast, Osteoclast and Osteocyte Dysfunction
Provisionally accepted
Aysha Bakari Murusuri
Jun Tang*- Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
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Osteoporosis is characterized by an imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation, leading to the loss of both trabecular and cortical bone mass, ultimately resulting in an increased risk of fractures. Osteoporosis represents a major global health burden, predominantly affecting elderly individuals and postmenopausal women. With the continued growth of the aging population, the prevalence of osteoporosis is expected to increase, highlighting the urgent need for more effective therapeutic strategies. Ferroptosis, a recently characterized form of iron-dependent, non-apoptotic cell death, has emerged as an important mechanism contributing to the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. A better understanding of ferroptosis may therefore provide new insights into therapeutic development. This review summarizes current evidence regarding the role of ferroptosis in osteoporosis, with particular focus on its effects on osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and osteocytes, as well as the impact of aging, estrogen deficiency, diabetes, glucocorticoid exposure, and obesity on ferroptosis in osteogenic cells.
Keywords: Ageing, antioxidant, ferroptosis, Osteogenic cells, Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal
Received: 09 Nov 2025; Accepted: 02 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Murusuri and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jun Tang
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