Lymphocyte Function in Human Acute Kidney Injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been recognised as an inflammatory condition with serious short- and long-term complications. Animal studies primarily using models of ischaemia reperfusion injury or caecal ligation and perforation have clearly demonstrated that inflammatory cells contribute to the initiation, propagation and recovery phase of AKI and that lymphocytes have a key role in these processes. Less is known about their involvement in common types of human AKI. This paper summarises the key findings of experimental AKI studies and limited human data with particular focus on the role of T-lymphocytes.