Kidney Injury Severity and COVID-19

Prospective Parallel-Group Study of the Relationship Between Kidney Injury Severity and Severity of COVID-19

The authors hypothesize that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can affect the kidneys, causing them to be damaged. The present study aims to explain the mechanisms of kidney injury in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

In December 2019, an outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) occurred in Wuhan, China. It has spread rapidly to other areas in China and worldwide. The most common manifestations of COVID-19 included fever, dry cough, dyspnea, myalgia, fatigue and radiographic evidence of pneumonia. Complications (acute respiratory distress syndrome, shock, acute cardiac injury, secondary infection, and acute kidney injury) and death may occur in severe cases. Recent reports showed that extrapulmonary symptoms (intestinal symptoms in 10-20% of patients) and renal failure in some patients may be associated with the interaction of the virus with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptors in other organs. It was suggested that ACE-2 expression in the kidneys can be the cause of kidney injury occurring in a number of patients with SARS-CoV-2.However, ACE-2 is not the only possible cause of kidney injury - sepsis-related cytokine storm can also lead to damage of kidney parenchyma.

The present study aims to explain the mechanisms of kidney injury in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Pneumonia confirmed by CT scans

Exclusion Criteria:

• a history of chronic renal failure;
• a history of kidney transplantation;
• intake of substances with a history of renal toxicity (no later than a month before inclusion);
• patients with a single kidney;
• refusal of the patient to participate in the study;
• absence of SARS-CoV-2 virus smear from the nasopharynx in PCR.