• c reactive protein in acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney diseases (CKD)
  • mobina karimi,1,* sogand raisi,2
    1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Siences, Lahijan Branch Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Guilan, Iran.
    2. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Siences, Lahijan Branch Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Guilan, Iran.


  • Introduction: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute inflammatory protein. This protein increases 1000 times under certain conditions, especially inflammation and infection. CRP is synthesized as a pentameric protein with five identical subunits in liver hepatocytes and contributes to host defense as a part of the innate immune response. Many factors can alter baseline CRP levels including age, gender, smoking status, weight, lipid levels, blood pressure, infections with bacteria or viruses, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, autoimmune disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, and lung diseases. Based on research in kidney diseases, CRP is highly expressed by many inflammatory cells, presumably macrophages, and intrinsic kidney cells including tubular cells and endothelial cells. This study aims to review existing knowledge on the role of CRP in acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
  • Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, and Springer databases to find relevant articles on kidney diseases and CRP
  • Results: Acute kidney injury (AKI), also known as acute renal failure (ARF) is one of the types of kidney disease that disrupts kidney function and is accompanied by necrosis, severe inflammation, and disorder. According to studies, the concentration of CRP in this type of disorder increases significantly. An increase in serum CRP is associated with worsening of the patient's condition. Chronic kidney disease (CKD), also known as chronic kidney failure, characterized as a progressive loss of renal function, has become a global public health burden. In CKD patients, a high CRP level is detected. In both diseases, AKI and CDK, CRP induces the phosphorylation of Smad3 by promoting ERK/p38 and TGF-β1 pathways, which subsequently develop renal inflammation. Furthermore, CRP can promote acute kidney injury by increasing renal accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells.
  • Conclusion: Based on our research CRP is a key biomarker or risk factor for AKI and CKD. Considering the mechanisms and signals activated by this protein, it can be said that this acute-phase protein plays an important role in the development of AKI and CKD and it can be used as a medicinal target in the treatment of kidney diseases
  • Keywords: C- reactive protein, kidney diseases, AKI, CKD, acute-phase protein