Drug-induced nephrotoxicity and its biomarkers

Nephrotoxicity occurs when the kidneys fail to function efficiently, resulting from damage to the kidneys by either any exogenous or endogenous toxins. Exposure to certain drugs in the kidney often leads to toxicity. A detailed understanding of the mechanism involved in drug-induced nephrotoxicity may provide valuable information for developing drugs with fewer side effects with more excellent therapeutic benefits. Several markers currently exist for the assessment of nephrotoxicity. The discovery and development of novel biomarkers could foster an accurate and early detection of drug-induced nephrotoxicity. This chapter summarizes various mechanisms of nephrotoxicity, protein-based and miRNA-based biomarkers, novel methods to detect the biomarkers, and finally, the challenges associated with identifying miRNA-based biomarkers in nephrotoxicity.