Background: The objectives were to characterize Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI).
Methods: Kidney biopsy samples in two Caucasian patients and one African with COVID-19 AKI were investigated.
Results: All patients had a high-level non-selective glomerular proteinuria. SARS-CoV-2 samples by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) assay were all-negative, as well as for virus particles in the kidney by electron microscopy. The three patients and patients with other AKI did not differ significantly with regard to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and transmembrane protease serine 2 kidney staining.
Conclusions: The kidney damage particularly in Caucasians in COVID-19 seems to be an AKI, possibly by the systemic inflammatory response.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Caucasian patient; angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; electron microscopy; kidney disease; tubular proteinuria.
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA.