Acute kidney injury (AKI) is still associated with high morbidity and mortality incidence rates, and also bears an elevated risk of subsequent chronic kidney disease. Although the kidney has a remarkable capacity for regeneration after injury and may recover completely depending on the type of renal lesions, the options for clinical intervention are restricted to fluid management and extracorporeal kidney support. The development of novel therapies to prevent AKI, to improve renal regeneration capacity after AKI, and to preserve renal function is urgently needed. The Special Issue covers research articles that investigated the molecular mechanisms of inflammation and injury during different renal pathologies, renal regeneration, diagnostics using new biomarkers, and the effects of different stimuli like medication or bacterial components on isolated renal cells or in vivo models. The Special Issue contains important reviews that consider the current knowledge of cell death and regeneration, inflammation, and the molecular mechanisms of kidney diseases. In addition, the potential of cell-based therapy approaches that use mesenchymal stromal/stem cells or their derivates is summarized. This edition is complemented by reviews that deal with the current data situation on other specific topics like diabetes and diabetic nephropathy or new therapeutic targets.

Based on the Oxford Textbook of Clinical Nephrology and companion to the Oxford Handbook of Dialysis, this handbook provides clear information and practical advice about the day-to-day management of patients with renal disease.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is still associated with high morbidity and mortality incidence rates, and also bears an elevated risk of chronic kidney disease in the sequel. Whereas the kidney has a remarkable capacity for regeneration after injury and may recover completely depending on the type of renal lesions, the options for clinical intervention are restricted to fluid management and extracorporeal kidney support. The development of novel therapies to prevent AKI, to improve renal regeneration capacity after AKI, and to preserve renal function-in both the short- and long-term-is urgently needed. This Special Issue includes papers investigating the pathological mechanisms of renal inflammation and AKI and diagnostics using new biomarkers. Furthermore, experimental in vitro and in vivo studies examining potential new approaches to attenuate kidney dysfunction are included, as well as review articles.

Nephrology is one of the fastest growing specialties in medicine. Nevertheless, kidney disease is one of the most serious unmet health needs in many countries. To provide healthcare access with the desirable equity worldwide, the nephrology community needs to discuss this public health issue and take part in decisions for elaboration of public health policies with more justice and equity. This book brings together key current public health problems that affect kidney function and illuminates them in contributions by an international group of nephrologists and general practitioners. The chapters review current knowledge and provide guidelines to manage these conditions and decrease the disease burden. At the end, developments in the digital era and their application to kidney disease treatment are synthesized, and a broader outlook on the future of nephrology is given. Ultimately, the publication aims to gather nephrology and public health expertise from researchers from all over the world, providing a broad vision of issues that must be discussed and overcome to guarantee a better treatment for patients with kidney diseases in the world today.

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is a highly prevalent hereditary renal disorder in which fluid-filled cysts are appeared in both kidneys. Main causative genes of ADPKD are PKD1 and PKD2, encoding for polycystin-1 (PC1) and polycystin-2 (PC2) respectively. Those proteins are localized on primary cilia and function as mechanosensor in response to the fluid flow, translating mechanistic stimuli into calcium signaling. With mutations either of PKD1 or PKD2, hyper-activated renal tubular epithelial cell proliferation is observed, followed by disrupted calcium homeostasis and aberrant intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) accumulation. Increased cell proliferation with fluid secretion leads to the development of thousands of epithelial-lined, fluid-filled cysts in kidneys. It is also accompanied by interstitial inflammation, fibrosis, and finally reaching end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In human ADPKD, the age at which renal failure typically occurs is later in life, however no specific targeted medications are available to cure ADPKD. Recently, potential therapeutic targets or surrogate diagnostic biomarkers for ADPKD are proposed with the advances in the understanding of ADPKD pathogenesis, and some of them were attempted for clinical trials. Herein, we will summarize genetic and epi-genetic molecular mechanisms in ADPKD progression, and overview the currently available biomarkers or potential therapeutic reagents suggested.

This multidisciplinary book provides up-to-date information on clinical approaches that combine stem or progenitor cells, biomaterials and scaffolds, growth factors, and other bioactive agents in order to offer improved treatment of urologic disorders including lower urinary tract dysfunction, urinary incontinence, neurogenic bladder, and erectile dysfunction. In providing clinicians and researchers with a broad perspective on the development of regenerative medicine technologies, it will assist in the dissemination of both regenerative medicine principles and a variety of exciting therapeutic options. After an opening section addressing current developments and future perspectives in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, fundamentals such as cell technologies, biomaterials, bioreactors, bioprinting, and decellularization are covered in detail. The remainder of the book is devoted to the description and evaluation of a range of cell and tissue applications, with individual chapters focusing on the kidney, bladder, urethra, urethral sphincter, and penis and testis.

This book presents up-to-date information on the clinical-pathophysiological features of acute renal injury and discusses the KDIGO diagnostic criteria, as well as novel experimental findings, including in the area of regenerative medicine. It also highlights the clinical-pathophysiological importance of AKI in clinical settings, including differential diagnoses and management of AKI. In the past, the pathology associated with sudden renal impairment was characterized as acute renal failure (ARF). However, in the 2000s, the joint efforts of specialists in fields including nephrology, intensive care medicine, and cardiovascular medicine led to the introduction of a novel concept known as acute kidney injury (AKI). As medical care progressed, patients such as high-risk elderly subjects who were not deemed to be candidates for invasive therapy came to be treated in intensive care units (ICUs). As a result, kidney injury as a subset of multiple organ failure was re-considered as AKI, especially in intensive care medicine. AKI was then proposed as a novel disease concept to emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention to improve prognosis.Presenting novel features, such as the definition of AKI, risk factors and management; biomarkers, such as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and L-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP); long-term outcomes of AKI; as well as renal regeneration using iPS cell, manipulation of embryonic genes, and Xenotransplanted embryonic kidney, this book is of interest to all physicians and researchers in this field around the globe.