LEUKOCYTES, CELL ADHESION-MOLECULES AND ISCHEMIC ACUTE RENAL-FAILURE

Ischemic acute renal failure (ARF) is a common clinical syndrome, asso ciated with high morbidity and mortality, for which there is no specif ic therapy. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) recruited during reper fusion have been implicated as mediators of renal parenchymal injury i schemic ARF. Leukocyte adhesion molecules appear to facilitate PMN rec ruitment in this setting. Complementary studies using monoclonal antib odies, antisense oligonucleotides and gene ''knockout'' indicate that blockade of CD11/CD18 integrins and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) attenuates ARF in some experimental models of renal ischemia. These exciting observations may herald the development of novel anti- adhesion strategies for use in human disease.