Serum creatinine is commonly used to estimate glomerular filtration rate, for the detection of nephrotoxicity, however, elevated levels tend to reflect advanced damage to the kidney and, thus, is not useful for early detection of colistin-induced AKI.41 In this study, none of the dextrin–colistin conjugates caused any effect on KIM-1 or NGAL levels (Fig. 5), suggesting that dextrin conjugation can prevent colistin-induced AKI. This evidence concerns the gene LCN2 and acute kidney injury.