THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES IN THE PREVENTION OF ACUTE-RENAL-FAILURE

The mechanisms involved and the potentially useful therapeutic strateg ies in the prevention of acute renal failure (ARF) are briefly reviewe d. Factors mentioned are the role of calcium channel blockers, the ant ioxidant agents, heme oxygenase induction, and ferritin synthesis; and of substances with hemodynamic actions in ARF such as endothelin, atr ial natriuretic peptide, urodilatin, PAF antagonist, prostaglandins, d iuretics, and dopamine. The loss of tubular epithelium polarity, the m echanisms involved in this process, and the usefulness of arginine-gly cine-aspartic acid peptide and anti-ICAM antibodies in the prevention of tubular obstruction are also reviewed.