Earlier diagnosis of acute kidney injury awaits effective therapy.

Novel urinary biomarkers for the early, sensitive, and specific diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) show promise for the improved management of patients with this treatment-resistant complication. Several biomarkers (Kim-1, lipocalin-2, osteopontin, gluthathione S-transferases) that were tested by Rouse et al. during gentamicin-induced AKI and its recovery possess renoprotective activities, capabilities that may guide the development of novel interventions. However, despite the increased commercial availability of biomarkers, effective therapies for clinical AKI await discovery.