Importance of urinary mitochondrial DNA in diagnosis and prognosis of kidney diseases.

• Mitochondrial injury promotes the occurrence and development of kidney diseases. • Existing assays used to determine mitochondrial function have limitations. • Elevated UmtDNA is a novel noninvasive biomarker for mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondrial injury plays an important role in the occurrence and development of kidney diseases. However, the existing assays to determine mitochondrial function restrict our ability to understand the relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and kidney damage. These limitations may be overcome by recent findings on urinary mitochondrial DNA (UmtDNA). Elevated UmtDNA level may serve as a surrogate biomarker of mitochondrial dysfunction, kidney damage, and progression and prognosis of kidney diseases. Herein, we review the recent research progress on UmtDNA in kidney diseases diagnosis and highlight the research areas that should be expanded in future as well as discuss the future perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]