Renal sensory nerves in injury: more than just sensing.

Recent basic research suggests that the neuroimmune axis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury. Although it is established that the kidney is innervated by both afferent and efferent nerves, there are few studies on the role of renal sensory nerves. Zhang et al. postulated that renal sensory nerves activate a high IL4Rα expression macrophage subset, resulting in the amelioration of kidney injury. This finding highlights a potential neuroimmune pathway that may represent a novel therapeutic target for acute kidney injury.