Patent ID: 7141382

Claim:
A method for diagnosing acute renal failure in a subject comprising: identifying a subject having acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or acute lung injury (ALI) not currently diagnosed with acute renal failure (ARF); measuring the concentration of serum creatinine in the subject; obtaining a urine sample from the subject prior to elevated serum creatinine in the subject, wherein elevated serum creatinine is indicated by a 50% increase of serum creatinine concentration above a baseline concentration of serum creatinine in the subject wherein the baseline serum creatinine is equal to or less than 1.2 mg/dl; assessing the concentration of interleukin 18 (IL-18) protein in the sample; and diagnosing the presence of ARF in the subject prior to elevated serum creatinine concentration based on an increased concentration of IL-18 protein in the sample relative to a normal control subject.