Role of Plasma Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin as a New Biomarker

I read with interest the study of Raluca Fodor et al., on the significance of Plasma Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL), as an early biomarker for acute kidney injury in critically ill patients, published recently in issue no.4/2015 of JCCM journal [1]. In this well-written and interesting study, the authors successfully demonstrated that in critically ill patients, increased levels of NGAL predict, with a good sensitivity and specificity, the development of acute kidney injury within forty-eight hours of admission to an ICU. However, as no information is presented on the aetiology of the acute kidney injury, we believe that the article raises interesting and still un-elucidated hypotheses on the pathophysiological substrate of the systemic release of NGAL in patients with critical conditions. [More]