Coronavirus & the Kidney

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As we all know that the world is currently fighting against the Pandemic. But here are some lesser known facts about the Coronavirus and its effects on other organs like kidney other than the lungs. Exactly how the virus affects the kidneys is still unclear, but experts have theories. One is that the coronavirus directly attacks the kidneys. A study showed that the coronavirus infiltrates the body by binding to a type of receptor on cells called ACE2. These special receptors are essentially docking sites that are found not only in cells in the heart and lungs, but also in kidneys.

The damage could also be the result of the virus's effects on the blood, which can lead to clots. Kidneys filter blood through thousands of tiny capillaries, which are highly susceptible to clots. Blood clotting is most likely an effect of the body's immune system going haywire, raising levels of inflammation in what's called a cytokine storm. The cytokines are supposed to attack the virus, but the immune system ends up releasing an overwhelming amount of these cytokines, and they end up attacking our own cells and tissues.

Apart from fever and respiratory complications, acute renal impairment has been observed in some patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. When a retrospective analysis of the plasma creatinine concentration was conducted, the results showed that patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome developed acute renal impairment occurring at a median duration of 20 days after the onset of viral infection despite a normal plasma creatinine level at first clinical presentation with normal plasma creatinine at first clinical presentation.