Role of Uremic Compounds in Organ Injury

In health, the renal glomerular filter cleanses the body of molecules with weights up to 58 kDa. In renal failure the reduced glomerular filtration or renal metabolism and the damage to non-renal organs comprise a variety of compounds specifically related to the metabolic processes and function of different cell types and organs. Inadequate removal of a large number of potentially toxic organic metabolites from the vascular bed into the urine in the course of acute kidneyinjury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with various clinical symptoms which are often difficult to interpret.

It is of considerable importance to identify which of the uremic retention solutes are actually uremic toxins and what pathomechanisms are involved in their damaging effect on the kidneys and other organs. This would allow better documented confirmation of the suspected association between the clinical symptoms and uremic retention solute/ toxin concentrations in biological materials, possible discovery of any missing pathophysiological links between progressive renal failure and loss of function in organs other than the kidneys, and identification of diagnosis-and organ-specific biomarkers for use in clinical practice. Uremic retention solutes are referred to as uremic toxins when they interact with normal biological functions. Read more..............