TGFB1 and acute kidney injury: TGF-β1 is a well-recognized profibrotic factor.101–103 Activation of TGF-β/Smad signaling is detected in AKI models induced by different types of insults, such as IRI.104 In the IRI model, the level of TGF-β1 is increased by 1.5-fold at 12 h and more than 3-fold at 24 h and is sustained at a high level until 14 days,105 which was confirmed by our recent study showing that the production of TGF-β1 was significantly induced in cisplatin nephropathy.106 However, the exact role of TGF-β in AKI is not fully understood.