Dietary interventions for acute kidney injury: from rodent mechanisms to clinical trials
The abstract states that ageing reduces renal resilience and raises the risk of frequent and harmful acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized patients. Dietary interventions such as caloric restriction, periodic fasting, ketogenic diets and restriction of sulfur-containing amino acids preserved kidney function in various rodent AKI models; transfer to patients is not yet established. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
The abstract states that ageing impairs renal resilience and raises the risk of frequent and harmful AKI causing substantial morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. [1]
Caloric restriction, periodic fasting, ketogenic diets and restriction of sulfur-containing amino acids preserved kidney function in various rodent AKI models, per the abstract. [1]
The abstract presents deciphering conserved molecular mechanisms of renal resilience in mice and humans as a route toward transfer to patients and possible druggable targets. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Review abstract (narrative overview from molecular mechanisms to clinical trials)
- Population / context
- Hospitalized patients with acute kidney injury and rodent models of AKI, as described in the abstract.
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Original publication
- March 25, 2026
Ageing, renal resilience and AKI risk in hospital patients
The abstract describes ageing as impairing renal resilience, with an elevated risk of frequent and harmful acute kidney injury (AKI) that causes substantial morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. It attributes this loss of kidney function to different damaging stimuli at the molecular, cellular and functional level. Because of this, the abstract calls AKI's pathophysiology heterogeneous and complex and states that development of pharmacological approaches is lagging behind.
Supporting source [1]
Rodent AKI models: caloric restriction, fasting, ketogenic and sulfur amino acid diets
According to the abstract, dietary interventions such as caloric restriction, periodic fasting, ketogenic diets and restriction of sulfur-containing amino acids have shown immense potential in preserving kidney function in various rodent models of AKI. The abstract frames these as diet-induced protective effects of preconditioning and notes that they are not limited to the kidney; dietary interventions may even be extended to other tissues like the brain or the heart in the context of AKI and beyond.
Supporting source [1]
Conserved mechanisms and the unresolved step to patient care
The abstract states that deciphering the underlying but conserved molecular mechanisms of renal resilience in mice and humans will help pave the way to successful transfer to the patient setting and may allow identification of druggable targets. It presents this transfer as a future aim, not a completed result. The abstract does not report human trial outcomes, effect sizes, sample sizes or follow-up.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
This is an abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. The protective dietary effects are reported from rodent AKI models, not from human trials, and the abstract reports no human outcomes, effect sizes, sample sizes or follow-up. Transfer to patients is described as a future aim.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Koehler FC, Rojas-Morales P, Müller RU. · europepmc.org · March 25, 2026