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Review
. 2018 May;33(5):779-787.
doi: 10.1007/s00467-017-3695-3. Epub 2017 Jun 10.

Acute kidney injury: emerging pharmacotherapies in current clinical trials

Stefanie Woolridge Benoit  1 , Prasad Devarajan  2
Affiliations
Review

Acute kidney injury: emerging pharmacotherapies in current clinical trials

Stefanie Woolridge Benoit et al. Pediatr Nephrol. 2018 May.

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients, affecting more than one quarter of critically ill children. Despite significant need, there are no targeted therapies to reliably prevent or treat AKI. Recent advances in our understanding of renal injury and repair signaling pathways have enabled the development of several targeted pharmaceuticals. Here we review emerging pharmacotherapies for AKI that are currently in clinical trials. Categorized by their general mechanism of action, the therapies discussed include anti-inflammatory agents (recAP, AB103, ABT-719), antioxidants (iron chelators, heme arginate), vasodilators (levosimendan), apoptosis inhibitors (QPI-1002), and repair agents (THR-184, BB-3, mesenchymal stem cells).

Keywords: Acute kidney injury; Acute renal failure; Clinical trials; Pediatric; Therapeutics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. A simplified model of the pathophysiology of acute kidney injury (AKI) and targets of emerging pharmacotherapies
Energetic failure and cellular structural disruption trigger local and systemic inflammatory cascades, oxidative stress, activation of cell death pathways, and renal microvascular circulation dysfunction. Anti-inflammatory and cellular repair signaling pathways lead to either cellular recovery or maladaptive repair and progressive fibrosis. Emerging pharmacotherapies currently in clinical trials include anti-inflammatory agents, antioxidants, vasodilators, apoptosis inhibitors, and repair agents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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