In septic patients (n = 40), the combined predictive performance of NGAL and L-FABP for newly developed AKI was notably improved by the decision tree, compared with NGAL alone (AUC-ROC 0.941, 95% CI 0.852–1.000 and AUC-ROC 0.750, 95% CI 0.614–0.886, respectively; P = 0.006). Here, FABP1 is linked to acute kidney injury.