In disorders with long-term HO-1 expression, such as cancer, fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetic nephropathy, and cerebral hemorrhage, HO-1 exacerbates ferroptosis by causing Fe2+ overproduction and ROS generation (Chang et al., 2018; Ryter and Tyrrell, 2000; Feng et al., 2021; Choi and Kim, 2022; Maus et al., 2023). Here, HMOX1 is linked to diabetic kidney disease.