Acute kidney injury in critically ill infants: the role of urine Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL)

Acute kidney injury (AKI) has emerged as an important health problem in the intensive care units, especially among infants delivered prematurely. Recent efforts to define and characterize AKI have led to studies of early AKI detection and will ultimately contribute to improvements in AKI outcomes. The discovery of biomarkers for AKI that might enable early recognition and clinical intervention to limit renal injury is therefore of intense contemporary interest. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is the most promising among all emerging markers for AKI; specifically, urine NGAL (uNGAL) predicts renal failure much earlier than serum creatinine. The recent availability of an automated immunoassay for measuring uNGAL in the clinical practice permits to introduce the test in emergency, having a turn around time (TAT) closely comparable with that of serum creatinine. On the basis of data reported in the literature, it is reasonable to forecast an increasing clinical use of uNGAL capable to change our approach to the diagnosis and leading to better preventative and therapeutic interventions which will improve outcomes of critically ill infants with acute kidney disease.