Role of fatty acid metabolism in kidney disease and therapeutic intervention by traditional Chinese medicine

Fatty acid metabolism, including fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and fatty acid synthesis, plays critical roles in signal transduction, energy production and inflammation regulation.Acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease (CKD) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are typical renal diseases with complex pathogenesis, susceptibility to multiple complications, and still no effective measure for clinical intervention.Current studies reveal that fatty acid metabolism is closely related to the occurrence and development of a variety of kidney diseases.This article reviews the metabolic characteristics of fatty acid in the kidney, the relationship between fatty acid metabolism disorder and renal diseases (i.e., AKI, CKD and RCC), and summarizes traditional Chinese medicines and related active ingredients targeting fatty acid metabolic pathway to alleviate renal diseases, aiming to provide theoretical reference for the in-depth study of mechanisms related to fatty acid metabolism in renal diseases as well as the development of effective interventions.