LCN2 and acute kidney injury: RNA expression of KIM-1, NGAL, IL-8 and cystatin C illustrated strong diagnostic performance of AKI, particularly of KIM-1 (AUC = 0.951) based on focused assessment of short-term biomarker kinetics [15]. Elevated levels of IL-18 support its role in early injury detection [15,18] immediately post-ESWL following normalization to baseline by day two, showcasing a possible renoprotective effect of treatment pacing.