Because of its bacteriostatic activity, NGAL has been initially classified as an acute phase protein that acts during innate immune and inflammatory responses, but the finding of its localization in different tissues has allowed to identify NGAL as a multifaceted protein involved in a number of physiological and pathophysiological processes, including metabolic homeostasis, apoptosis, proliferation, acute kidney injury (AKI), lupus nephritis (LN), cardiovascular diseases or intestinal inflammation [24]. The gene discussed is LCN2; the disease is acute kidney injury.