LCN2 and acute kidney injury: Therefore, much effort has been spent on the identification of reliable biomarkers for early detection of AKI (for example, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), interleukin-18, kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) [7]); however, predictive values vary considerably between studies, and no single substance has been shown to have consistent sensitivity [8].