ArticleJournal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN2021
High SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Urine Sediment Correlates with Acute Kidney Injury and Poor COVID-19 Outcome.
Article in Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Viral shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in body fluids associated with sexual activity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2024Pooled it
- The Application of artificial intelligence in periprosthetic joint infection.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Kidney Stone Disease: Epigenetic Dysregulation in Homocystinuria and Mitochondrial Sulfur Trans-Sulfuration Ablation Driven by COVID-19 Pathophysiology.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2 in human brain and its association with Alzheimer's disease and COVID-19.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Update on Acute Tubulointerstitial Nephritis: Clinical Features, Immunologic Insights, and Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches.Kidney international reports · 2025Review
- Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in different types of clinical specimens among suspected COVID-19 patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Virusdisease · 2024Article
- Kidney Outcomes and Trajectories of Tubular Injury and Function in Critically Ill Patients With and Without COVID-19.Critical care explorations · 2024Article
- An Update on Viral Infection-Associated Collapsing Glomerulopathy.Advances in kidney disease and health · 2024Review
- Precision nutrition to reset virus-induced human metabolic reprogramming and dysregulation (HMRD) in long-COVID.NPJ science of food · 2024Review
- Kidney Outcomes and Trajectories of Tubular Injury and Function in Critically Ill Persons with and without Coronavirus-2019.Research square · 2024Article
- Domestic and wild animal samples and diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2.The veterinary quarterly · 2023Review
- Investigation of Initial Viral Loads and Patient Characteristics as Predictors of COVID-19 Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Infectious disease reports · 2023Article
- Long-term interplay between COVID-19 and chronic kidney disease.International urology and nephrology · 2023Review
- Urine Parameters in Patients with COVID-19 Infection.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Treatment with quercetin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 N protein-induced acute kidney injury by blocking Smad3-dependent G1 cell-cycle arrest.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2023Article
- The Investigation of Kidney Involvement in 430 Hospitalized Patients with Omicron COVID-19 in Tianjin, China.Blood purification · 2023Article
- SARS-CoV-2 versus other minor viral infection on kidney injury in asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients.Virulence · 2022Review
- Subclinical Acute Kidney Injury in COVID-19: Possible Mechanisms and Future Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Dynamic modulations of urinary sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid levels in COVID-19 and correlations with COVID-19-associated kidney injuries.Journal of biomedical science · 2022Article
- Acute kidney injury associated to COVID-19 leads to a strong unbalance of circulant immune mediators.Cytokine · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAKI is a complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that is associated with high mortality. Despite documented kidney tropism of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there are no consistent reports of viral detection in urine or correlation with AKI or COVID-19 severity. Here, we hypothesize that quantification of the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in urine sediment from patients with COVID-19 correlates with occurrence of AKI and mortality.
methodsThe viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in urine sediments (U-viral load) was quantified by qRT-PCR in 52 patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, who were hospitalized between March 15 and June 8, 2020. Immunolabeling of SARS-CoV-2 proteins Spike and Nucleocapsid was performed in two COVID-19 kidney biopsy specimens and urine sediments. Viral infectivity assays were performed from 32 urine sediments.
resultsA total of 20 patients with COVID-19 (39%) had detectable SARS-CoV-2 U-viral load, of which 17 (85%) developed AKI with an average U-viral load four-times higher than patients with COVID-19 who did not have AKI. U-viral load was highest (7.7-fold) within 2 weeks after AKI diagnosis. A higher U-viral load correlated with mortality but not with albuminuria or AKI stage. SARS-CoV-2 proteins partially colocalized with the viral receptor ACE2 in kidney biopsy specimens in tubules and parietal cells, and in urine sediment cells. Infective SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in urine sediments.
conclusionOur results further support SARS-CoV-2 kidney tropism. A higher SARS-CoV-2 viral load in urine sediments from patients with COVID-19 correlated with increased incidence of AKI and mortality. Urinary viral detection could inform the medical care of patients with COVID-19 and kidney injury to improve prognosis.
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