Growth factors and acute renal failure.

During acute renal injury, there are alterations in the expression of several growth factors and their receptors in the kidney. The increased expression of several growth factors and/or their receptors at sites of nephron injury suggests important contributions to repair. Exogenous administration of some growth factors, such as IGF-I, EGF and HGF, accelerates recovery of renal function in experimental acute renal failure (ARF). In ARF growth factors act through several mechanisms, which may include altered cell cycle regulation and mitogenesis, differentiation of recovered cells, regulation of apoptosis, improved renal hemodynamics, and others. There is evidence for interactions of growth factors with other growth factors as well as with other genes resulting in complex orchestration of biologic events contributing to recovery from ARF.