Implications of Iron Deficiency in STEMI Patients and in a Murine Model of Myocardial Infarction

•In patients with STEMI treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention, iron deficiency is associated with larger infarcts, more extensive microvascular obstruction, and a higher frequency of adverse left ventricular remodeling.•An iron-deficient diet reduces the tolerance to ischemia/reperfusion in mice at least in part by interfering with the cardioprotective pathway eNOS/soluble guanylate cyclase/protein kinase G.•An iron-deficient diet reduces eNOS activity by increasing oxidative/nitrosative stress and its proteasome-dependent degradation.•Not only iron excess but also iron deficiency may have deleterious effects in the context of acute myocardial ischemia.