AKT1 and acute kidney injury: 53, 54, 55 In contrast, chronic alcohol exposure enhances inflammatory cytokine gene expression in humans and rodent models.56, 57, 58 Similarly, our results showed that chronic alcohol exposure may exacerbate AKI via activation of GSK3β-mediated signaling in the kidney, which is likely mediated by the β-arrestin 2/Akt signaling pathway.