Renal implications of coronavirus disease 2019: insights into viral tropism and clinical outcomes

In recent years, multiple coronaviruses have emerged, with the latest one, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing a global pandemic. Besides respiratory symptoms, some patients experienced extrapulmonary effects, such as cardiac damage or renal injury, indicating the broad tropism of SARS-CoV-2. The ability of the virus to effectively invade the renal cellular environment can eventually cause tissue-specific damage and disease. Indeed, patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 exhibited a variety of symptoms such as acute proximal tubular injury, ischemic collapse, and severe acute tubular necrosis resulting in irreversible kidney failure. This review summarizes the current knowledge on how it is believed that SARS-CoV-2 influences the renal environment and induces kidney disease, as well as current therapy approaches.