Effects of Coronaviruses on the Kidney: A Hypothesis for COVID-19 Induce Nephropathology Except for ACE2 Receptor

Abstract

Context: Coronavirus (CoV), as a respiratory-related infectious disease, can be transferred to different animal species subsequently adapted to humans. This virus induces renal disorders such as nephritis. This scoping review investigated the effect of these viruses, especially SARS-CoV-2, in inducing kidney damage and its probable cellular mechanism of action other than the ACE2 receptor. Evidence Acquisition: This scoping review was conducted using Arksey and Omally’s methodology and PRISMA-SCR checklist. To achieve the aim of the study, English articles in the PubMed database were searched until November 2019 by utilization of the MeSH term system, including four groups of search terms of coronavirus, COVID-19, and kidney and in combination with each other. Results: After deleting the similar articles (n = 561634), 9,426 of them were selected for the screening and title and abstract review. A total of 75 studies were selected, and 37 remained, 54% of which was between “2010 - 2020” and 46% between “1990 - 2010”, and the study population was 24% human, 31% animal, and 45% cellular. Moreover, 66% of the studies were not cited because of their cellularity and age. Conclusions: The present review showed that coronaviruses such as HCv-OC43, HCoV-229E, and TGV induced several kidney injuries, including glomerulonephropathy and proximal tubule destruction through APN expression. Therefore, according to the similar effects of SARS-CoV-2 to other coronaviruses on inducing kidney damages, it could be suggested that this type of coronavirus might produce its pathological effects via the expression of APN in addition to the ACE2 receptor.