Decades of research have revealed that nephron number is a crucial determinant of kidney health. However, a lack of appropriate tools has limited these studies to ex vivo analyses. For the first time, techniques are emerging that might enable the use of functional nephron number as a biomarker in living humans.

中文翻译：

---

发挥在诊所测量肾单位数量的潜力

数十年的研究表明，肾单位数量是肾脏健康的关键决定因素。然而，由于缺乏适当的工具，这些研究仅限于离体分析。首次出现的技术可能能够将功能性肾单位数用作活体人类的生物标志物。