The research results in a curve, over the course of COVID disease, of the cumulative incidence of acute kidney injury in its participants, revealing a significant association between COVID, acute kidney disorders and acute kidney injury, variable over time .
This research confirms that
COVID, better known for its impact on the respiratory and even cardiovascular systems, also affects the kidneys.
The study analyzes data from the UK Biobank, data from a matched cohort study of 10,121 COVID patients, matched to 29,004 controls, and a Mendelian randomization analysis, to explore both the association and the causality between COVID disease and these kidney complications. A “Cox” model was used to evaluate this association in the 4 weeks following infection. This analysis reveals that:
- the risk of renal complications reaches a peak during the 2nd week after infection with a risk ratio X 13;
- this risk of renal complications decreases in the 4th week (risk ratio x 2.3);
- the development of associated renal complications occurs “during the first 3 weeks following infection,” summarizes lead author Dr. Li Chunyang, researcher at the West China Biomedical Big Data Center at Sichuan University;
- only patients with moderate to severe COVID are at significant risk of acute worsening of kidney function;
- this risk is in fact not observed in patients with mild COVID-19;
- Mendelian randomization analysis reveals a potential “short-term” causal effect of COVID on the risk of kidney complicationsthis risk being mainly limited to the first week following infection.
Taken together, these data suggest that healthcare professionals should also closely monitor kidney function in COVID patientsparticularly those with moderate to severe forms and during the first weeks following infection.
“The molecular mechanisms underlying this association between COVID and kidney damage remain unclear and will be the subject of further research, which will also need to verify causality.”
