Zhu et al. (2018) found that the expression of β-catenin is significantly increased after inhibiting dkk3 expression in I/R-induced cell and rat AKI models. Therefore, the expression of DKK3 is positively correlated with AKI. However, it should be mentioned that the exaggerated and continuous activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway may contribute to the transition of AKI to chronic kidney disease (CKD) (Xiao et al., 2016). Here, DKK3 is linked to acute kidney injury.