MicroRNA Diagnostics in Kidney Disease: Innovations and Challenges

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a substantial global health issue, impacting over 850 million people worldwide. Current clinical biomarkers lack sufficient sensitivity to identify early renal injury. Small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have gained increasing attention as promising biomarkers for the early diagnosis and therapeutic targeting of CKD. MicroRNAs are short ncRNA molecules that modulate gene expression. Owing to their remarkable stability in biological fluids, miRNAs can be reliably detected and quantified, highlighting their potential as prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers and as targets for therapy. Aberrant miRNA expression has been implicated as a critical contributor to the initiation and progression of numerous complex human disorders, including renal diseases. Accumulating evidence indicates that miRNAs may serve as viable targets for creating new treatment approaches for CKD. Accordingly, this book shows the current knowledge regarding the significance of miRNAs in the early diagnosis and intervention of CKD, also addressing key challenges and future directions in the development of miRNA-based therapeutics for CKD treatment.