Abstract
This Practice Point commentary discusses a study by Zhang and colleagues that investigated the usefulness of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) for the early diagnosis of tubular injury on renal biopsy. The study found that KIM-1 protein expression was present in 100% of biopsies that showed acute tubular injury, and in 28% of protocol kidney biopsies that showed no morphological pathology. KIM-1 levels showed positive correlation with serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, and inverse correlation with estimated glomerular filtration rate. We discuss the findings of Zhang et al., and describe other potential biomarkers for detecting early tubular injury that are currently under investigation. KIM-1, potentially in combination with other biomarkers, might be useful for diagnosing early acute tubular injury on renal biopsy, and might also be of prognostic significance.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
£139.00 per year
only £11.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Zhang PL et al. (2008) Kidney injury molecule-1 expression in transplant biopsies is a sensitive measure of cell injury. Kidney Int 73: 608–614
Ichimura T et al. (1998) Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1): a putative epithelial cell adhesion molecule containing a novel immunoglobulin domain, is up-regulated in renal cells after injury. J Biol Chem 273: 4135–4142
Vaidya VS et al. (2006) Urinary kidney injury molecule-1: a sensitive quantitative biomarker for early detection of kidney tubular injury. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 290: F517–F529
Reeves WB et al. (2008) Netrin-1 and kidney injury. II. Netrin-1 is an early biomarker of acute kidney injury. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 294: F731–F738
Parikh CR et al. (2006) Urine NGAL and IL-18 are predictive biomarkers for delayed graft function following kidney transplantation. Am J Transplant 6: 1639–1645
Kainz A et al. (2007) Gene expression profiles and age of donor kidney biopsies obtained before transplantation distinguish medium term graft function. Transplantation 83: 1048–1054
Perco P et al. (2006) Protein biomarkers associated with acute renal failure and chronic kidney disease. Eur J Clin Invest 36: 753–763
Acknowledgements
Sources of support: Austrian Science Fund (P-18325-B13 to RO).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perco, P., Oberbauer, R. Kidney injury molecule-1 as a biomarker of acute kidney injury in renal transplant recipients. Nat Rev Nephrol 4, 362–363 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneph0828
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneph0828