LCN2 and acute kidney injury: AKI is usually assessed using markers such as serum creatinine (sCr), albumin, serum blood ureic nitrogen (sBUN), cystatin-C, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-18), and liver-type fatty acid-binding protein [15,16,17,18].