Problem

Acute kidney Injury (AKI) is a syndrome that results in a sudden decrease in kidney function and currently is one of the most serious and common health problems in the world associated with severe morbidity and mortality as well as the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Every year, it affects around 13.3 million people, causing 1,7 million deaths. It therefore represents a true epidemic in today’s nephrology where 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 3 children worldwide experience AKI during a hospital episode of care with a mortality rate of 50-80%.

Although toxic drug-induced AKI has increased exponentially with an overall mortality of 40.7% (due to more aggressive diagnostic and therapeutic techniques; polymedication and the progressive ageing of the population), 45-70% of all AKIs are associated with sepsis, with mortality as high as 90%.

Sepsis affects nearly 30 million people a year, 9 million of whom eventually die, with one sepsis death occurring every 3.5 seconds. The occurrence of AKI in sepsis is an independent risk factor associated with increased mortality, and it is associated with a poor prognosis in the context of multi-organ dysfunction syndrome.

Early treatment of AKI is one of the best maneuvers to limit damage, but unfortunately, there is still no approved drug therapy for this indication.