In “stressed” astrocytes, excessive HO-1 activity can lead to mitochondrial iron sequestration, macroautophagy, pathological iron deposition, and bioenergy depletion, which contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Huntington’s disease (HD) (121). This evidence concerns the gene HMOX1 and early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease.