New drugs for acute kidney injury

Purpose of review To describe recent advances in the development of therapeutic agents for acute kidney injury (AKI). Recent findings Traditional care for AKI is mostly supportive. At present, no specific therapy has been developed to prevent or treat AKI. However, based on a better understanding of the pathophysiology of AKI, various potential compounds have been recently identified and tested. A variety of pathways has been targeted, including oxidative and mitochondrial stress, cellular metabolism and repair, inflammation, apoptosis and hemodynamics. Many of these potential agents are currently ongoing early-phase clinical trials, and the purpose of this review is to provide a summary of those with the most potential. Summary Despite the lack of therapies specifically approved for AKI, many interesting potential agents are entering clinical trials, with the potential to transform the care of patients with AKI.