The Pathogenesis of Experimental Acute Renal Failure: The Role of Membrane Dysfunction

The mechanism responsible for the pathogenesis of acute renal failure, a disease characterized by the sudden loss of renal function, continues to be the subject of controversy. The maintained high morbidity and mortality, despite numerous clinical advances in its treatment as well as the renewed scientific interest in its pathogenesis, suggests that a detailed knowledge of the pathophysiologic mechanisms will be required before significant progress in the prevention and/or treatment of acute renal failure will be forthcoming. The controversy appears to have persisted, despite the availability of sophisticated investigative techniques, because of the lack of a single experimental model or a single pathophysiologic mechanism that best explains the observed abnormalities in renal function.