β-Lapachone ameliorates murine cisplatin nephrotoxicity: NAD⁺, NQO1, and SIRT1 at the crossroads of metabolism, injury, and inflammation.

The clinical utility of cisplatin is limited by nephrotoxicity. Oh et al. report that β-lapachone prevents this nephrotoxicity but not cisplatin's cytotoxicity for cancers. In addition to its potential clinical importance, the beneficial effect of β-lapachone on cisplatin acute kidney injury may illustrate fundamental processes that ordinarily link alterations in nutrient availability and intracellular reactive oxygen species on the one hand, with inflammation and cell death on the other hand.