Sepsis-associated Acute Kidney Injury

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated immune response to infection. Interestingly, sepsis mortality increases with acute kidney injury (AKI) and patients with AKI worsen with sepsis. It is interesting to note that most of the clinical trials on sepsis treatment that derived from the results of translational researches are a failure. This is, in part, because of the complexity of human sepsis in comparison with animal models. Another reason for the failure-translation might be the improper matching of the animal models to the individual patient. It is possible that the main mechanism of sepsis induction in each patient with the variety causes of sepsis might be different. Indeed, immune response to sepsis depends on genetic background, route of immune activation, and organisms. Thus, sepsis treatment classified by “mechanistic approach” to individual patient might be more proper than the classification with “sepsis severity”. Specific treatment of sepsis in individual patient according to the specific immune response characteristic might be a more proper translational strategy. Indeed, the understanding in immune response pattern of sepsis and sepsis pathophysiology is necessary for “sepsis mechanistic approach”. Then, we conclude most of the topics and our hypothesis regarding SA-AKI in this review.