Nutritional support in acute kidney injury

Abstract Optimal nutritional requirements and nutrient intake composition for patients with acute kidney injury is still a partially unresolved issue. Targeting nutritional support to the actual protein and energy needs improves the clinical outcome of critically ill patients. So far, very few data are currently available on this topic in acute kidney injury. In this specific clinical condition, the risk for under- and overfeeding may be increased by factors interfering on nutrient need estimation, such as rapidly changing body weight due to fluid balance variations, nutrient losses and hidden calorie sources from renal replacement therapy. Moreover, since acute kidney injury is now considered a kidney-centered inflammatory syndrome, the renoprotective role of specific pharmaconutrients with anti-inflammatory properties remains to be fully defined. This review is aimed at discussing recently published results concerning quantitative and qualitative aspects of the nutritional approach to acute kidney injury in critically ill patients.