Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40677312›Full record

ArticleKidney international reports2025

Complement Activation is More Pronounced in the Kidneys of Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 Than in Those With Bacterial Sepsis.

Firas F Alkaff, Grietje G Talen, Marius C van den Heuvel, Meint Volbeda, Matijs van Meurs, Jill Moser, Mohamed R Daha, Jacob van den Born, Stefan P Berger

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Article in Kidney international reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Firas F AlkaffDivision of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Grietje G TalenDivision of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Marius C van den HeuvelDepartment of Pathology and Medical Biology, Pathology Section, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Meint VolbedaDepartment of Critical Care, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Matijs van MeursDepartment of Critical Care, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Jill MoserDepartment of Critical Care, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Mohamed R DahaDivision of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Jacob van den BornDivision of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Stefan P BergerDivision of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that the complement system plays an important role in COVID-19 acute kidney injury (AKI). However, studies evaluating the activation pathways Methods: This study used postmortem kidney tissue from 22 patients with COVID-19 and 22 patients with bacterial sepsis. Control kidney tissues were obtained from 12 patients who underwent total nephrectomy. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for complement factor properdin and complement activation products C4d, C3d, and C5b-9. Glomerular and tubulointerstitial complement deposition was quantitatively analyzed using ImageScope. Results: Peritubular capillary thrombi were found in 82% of the biopsies in the COVID-19 group but were absent in the bacterial sepsis group. Both C3d and properdin positivity in the tubulointerstitial area were significantly higher in COVID-19 than in bacterial sepsis ( Conclusions: There was marked tubulointerstitial complement deposition in the kidneys of patients with COVID-19, particularly in the peritubular capillaries, with activation via the alternative pathway. Thus, alternative complement pathway inhibition might be a possible treatment option for patients with COVID-19 AKI.

Indexed as

acute kidney injurycomplementCOVID-19kidneysepsis

Identifiers

PMID40677312
PMCPMC12266222

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.