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Review
. 2025 Feb 26;14(5):1570.
doi: 10.3390/jcm14051570.

Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin: Biological Aspects and Potential Diagnostic Use in Acute Kidney Injury

Grazia Maria Virzì  1   2 , Niccolò Morisi  3   4 , Catarina Oliveira Paulo  5 , Anna Clementi  6 , Claudio Ronco  2 , Monica Zanella  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin: Biological Aspects and Potential Diagnostic Use in Acute Kidney Injury

Grazia Maria Virzì et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a syndrome characterized by a rise in creatinine or a decrease in urinary flow, according to the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definition. It is diagnosed in 15% of inpatients and 50% of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), and it is related to increased mortality. As part of a global effort aimed at the elimination of preventable deaths from AKI, there is a growing interest in identifying biomarkers that can be point-of-care and that are not influenced by the variability in patient characteristics in a relevant way. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), particularly in its 25 kDa form, which is exclusively released by renal tubules, has emerged as a promising biomarker with potential use in the diagnosis of AKI in the critically ill, including its use in guiding the initiation and/or weaning of renal replacement therapy (RRT). The objective of this review is to summarize the current understanding of NGAL in acute settings, emphasizing biological and genomic insights.

Keywords: AKI; NGAL; RRT; biomarker; diagnosis of AKI; lipocalin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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