Even as record numbers of deceased donors are undergoing organ recovery, the global transplant community continues to struggle with a shortage of donor organs and a high organ discard rate. Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in many hospitalized patients, including up to 25% of patients in critical condition. Registry studies have shown a significant increase in nonrecovery or organ discard rates in AKI donors, despite most studies reporting similar clinical outcomes compared with non-AKI donors. This review aims to capture the salient information learned from these studies and to summarize the efforts that have been made to gain a more granular understanding of how kidneys from donors with AKI behave posttransplant. In particular, we reviewed the studies that analyzed the clinical outcomes in different stages of AKI and AKI in marginal donors, such as kidney donor profile index of >85%, older donors, and donation after circulatory death donors. We summarized studies investigating molecular biomarkers, transcriptomics, and possible future therapeutic targets for postdonation AKI.
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