Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jul 31;21(15):5490.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21155490.

Roles Played by Biomarkers of Kidney Injury in Patients with Upper Urinary Tract Obstruction

Satoshi Washino  1 , Keiko Hosohata  2 , Tomoaki Miyagawa  1
Affiliations
Review

Roles Played by Biomarkers of Kidney Injury in Patients with Upper Urinary Tract Obstruction

Satoshi Washino et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Partial or complete obstruction of the urinary tract is a common and challenging urological condition caused by a variety of conditions, including ureteral calculi, ureteral pelvic junction obstruction, ureteral stricture, and malignant ureteral obstruction. The condition, which may develop in patients of any age, induces tubular and interstitial injury followed by inflammatory cell infiltration and interstitial fibrosis, eventually impairing renal function. The serum creatinine level is commonly used to evaluate global renal function but is not sensitive to early changes in the glomerular filtration rate and unilateral renal damage. Biomarkers of acute kidney injury are useful for the early detection and monitoring of kidney injury induced by upper urinary tract obstruction. These markers include levels of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), monocyte chemotactic protein-1, kidney injury molecule 1, N-acetyl-b-D-glucosaminidase, and vanin-1 in the urine and serum NGAL and cystatin C concentrations. This review summarizes the pathophysiology of kidney injury caused by upper urinary tract obstruction, the roles played by emerging biomarkers of obstructive nephropathy, the mechanisms involved, and the clinical utility and limitations of the biomarkers.

Keywords: biomarkers; cystatin C; kidney injury; kidney injury molecule 1; monocyte chemotactic protein-1; neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin; upper urinary tract obstruction; vanin-1.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanisms of UUTO causing kidney injury and fibrosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mesrobian H.-G.O., Mitchell M.E., See W.A., Halligan B.D., Carlson B.E., Greene A.S., Wakim B.T. Candidate Urinary Biomarker Discovery in Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction: A Proteomic Approach. J. Urol. 2010;184:709–714. doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2010.03.061. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chevalier R.L., Thornhill B.A., Forbes M.S., Kiley S.C. Mechanisms of renal injury and progression of renal disease in congenital obstructive nephropathy. Pediatr. Nephrol. 2009;25:687–697. doi: 10.1007/s00467-009-1316-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Grasso M., Caruso R.P., Phillips C.K. UPJ Obstruction in the Adult Population: Are Crossing Vessels Significant? Rev. Urol. 2001;3:42–51. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu Y., Chen Y., Liao B., Luo D., Wang K.-J., Li H., Zeng G. Epidemiology of urolithiasis in Asia. Asian J. Urol. 2018;5:205–214. doi: 10.1016/j.ajur.2018.08.007. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sorokin I., Mamoulakis C., Miyazawa K., Rodgers A., Talati J., Lotan Y. Epidemiology of stone disease across the world. World J. Urol. 2017;35:1301–1320. doi: 10.1007/s00345-017-2008-6. - DOI - PubMed