Histopathologic and Ultrastructural Findings in Postmortem Kidney Biopsy Material in 12 Patients with AKI and COVID-19

doi:10.1681/ASN.2020050683

. 2020 Sep;31(9):1944-1947.

doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020050683. Epub 2020 Jul 16.

Histopathologic and Ultrastructural Findings in Postmortem Kidney Biopsy Material in 12 Patients with AKI and COVID-19

Pouneh Golmai¹, Christopher P Larsen², Maria V DeVita¹, Samuel J Wahl³, Astrid Weins⁴, Helmut G Rennke⁴, Vanesa Bijol⁵, Jordan L Rosenstock⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Nephrology, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, New York, New York.
² Renal Pathology, Arkana Laboratories, Little Rock, Arkansas.
³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, New York, New York.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.
⁶ Division of Nephrology, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, New York, New York jrosenstock@northwell.edu.

PMID: 32675304
PMCID: PMC7461690
DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2020050683

Histopathologic and Ultrastructural Findings in Postmortem Kidney Biopsy Material in 12 Patients with AKI and COVID-19

Pouneh Golmai et al. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020 Sep.

. 2020 Sep;31(9):1944-1947.

doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020050683. Epub 2020 Jul 16.

Authors

Pouneh Golmai¹, Christopher P Larsen², Maria V DeVita¹, Samuel J Wahl³, Astrid Weins⁴, Helmut G Rennke⁴, Vanesa Bijol⁵, Jordan L Rosenstock⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Nephrology, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, New York, New York.
² Renal Pathology, Arkana Laboratories, Little Rock, Arkansas.
³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, New York, New York.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.
⁶ Division of Nephrology, Lenox Hill Hospital, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, New York, New York jrosenstock@northwell.edu.

PMID: 32675304
PMCID: PMC7461690
DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2020050683

No abstract available

Keywords: Acute kidney injury; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; biopsy; pathology; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; virion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

**Figure 1.**
Electron microscopy and in situ hybridization for SARS-CoV-2 reveal no evidence of viral presence in kidney biopsy material. (A) Electron micrograph of a proximal tubule epithelial cell with many clathrin-coated vesicles aggregated in cytosol, closely resembling viral particles. Original magnification, ×10,000. The white square in (A) is shown magnified in (B) and (C). Original magnification, ×50,000 in B; ×100,000 in C. (D) Multivesicular bodies in the podocyte cytoplasm. Original magnification, ×50,000. (E) RNAScope using probes directed against SARS-CoV-2 shows absence of signal in the patient’s kidney parenchyma. Original magnification, ×200. (F) Adequate quality of tissue is confirmed by RNAScope analysis for mRNA of the housekeeping gene peptidylprolyl isomerase B using 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (brown) chromogen. Original magnification, ×200. (G) Negative control of the *in situ* hybridization assay. Original magnification, ×200.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

Authors' Reply.
Rosenstock JL, Bijol V. Rosenstock JL, et al. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Jan;32(1):255-256. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020101479. Epub 2020 Nov 5. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021. PMID: 33155987 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
Post-Mortem Diagnostics in COVID-19 AKI, More Often but Timely.
Zijlstra JG, van Meurs M, Moser J. Zijlstra JG, et al. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Jan;32(1):255. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020091263. Epub 2020 Nov 5. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021. PMID: 33170136 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Cited by

COVID-19 infection and renal injury: where is the place for acute interstitial nephritis disease?
León-Román J, Agraz I, Vergara A, Ramos N, Toapanta N, García-Carro C, Gabaldón A, Bury R, Bermejo S, Bestard O, Soler MJ. León-Román J, et al. Clin Kidney J. 2022 Mar 14;15(9):1698-1704. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfac079. eCollection 2022 Sep. Clin Kidney J. 2022. PMID: 35999963 Free PMC article.
Identification of common molecular signatures of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its influence on acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.
Zhang W, Liu L, Xiao X, Zhou H, Peng Z, Wang W, Huang L, Xie Y, Xu H, Tao L, Nie W, Yuan X, Liu F, Yuan Q. Zhang W, et al. Front Immunol. 2023 Mar 21;14:961642. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.961642. eCollection 2023. Front Immunol. 2023. PMID: 37026010 Free PMC article.
Immunoglobulin-A Vasculitis With Renal Involvement in a Patient With COVID-19: A Case Report and Review of Acute Kidney Injury Related to SARS-CoV-2.
Li NL, Papini AB, Shao T, Girard L. Li NL, et al. Can J Kidney Health Dis. 2021 Feb 5;8:2054358121991684. doi: 10.1177/2054358121991684. eCollection 2021. Can J Kidney Health Dis. 2021. PMID: 33614058 Free PMC article.
Crosstalk between COVID-19 Infection and Kidney Diseases: A Review on the Metabolomic Approaches.
Murali R, Wanjari UR, Mukherjee AG, Gopalakrishnan AV, Kannampuzha S, Namachivayam A, Madhyastha H, Renu K, Ganesan R. Murali R, et al. Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Feb 20;11(2):489. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11020489. Vaccines (Basel). 2023. PMID: 36851366 Free PMC article. Review.
Complement Activation is More Pronounced in the Kidneys of Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 Than in Those With Bacterial Sepsis.
Alkaff FF, Talen GG, van den Heuvel MC, Volbeda M, van Meurs M, Moser J, Daha MR, van den Born J, Berger SP. Alkaff FF, et al. Kidney Int Rep. 2025 Apr 21;10(7):2284-2295. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2025.04.027. eCollection 2025 Jul. Kidney Int Rep. 2025. PMID: 40677312 Free PMC article.

See all "Cited by" articles

References

1. Hirsch JS, Ng JH, Ross DW, Sharma P, Shah HH, Barnett RL, et al. .; Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium; Northwell Nephrology COVID-19 Research Consortium: Acute kidney injury in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Kidney Int 98: 209–218, 2020. - PMC - PubMed
1. Su H, Yang M, Wan C, Yi LX, Tang F, Zhu HY, et al. .: Renal histopathological analysis of 26 postmortem findings of patients with COVID-19 in China. Kidney Int 98: 219–227, 2020. - PMC - PubMed
1. Varga Z, Flammer AJ, Steiger P, Haberecker M, Andermatt R, Zinkernagel AS, et al. .: Endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis in COVID-19. Lancet 395: 1417–1418, 2020. - PMC - PubMed
1. Peleg Y, Kudose S, D’Agati V, Siddall E, Ahmad S, Kisselev S, et al. .: Acute kidney injury due to collapsing glomerulopathy following COVID-19 infection. Kidney Int Rep 5: 940–945, 2020. - PMC - PubMed
1. Larsen CP, Bourne TD, Wilson JD, Saqqa O, Sharshir MA: Collapsing glomerulopathy in a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Kidney Int Rep 5: 935–939, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

[1] Hirsch JS, Ng JH, Ross DW, Sharma P, Shah HH, Barnett RL, et al. .; Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium; Northwell Nephrology COVID-19 Research Consortium: Acute kidney injury in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Kidney Int 98: 209–218, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[2] Hirsch JS, Ng JH, Ross DW, Sharma P, Shah HH, Barnett RL, et al. .; Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium; Northwell Nephrology COVID-19 Research Consortium: Acute kidney injury in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Kidney Int 98: 209–218, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[3] Su H, Yang M, Wan C, Yi LX, Tang F, Zhu HY, et al. .: Renal histopathological analysis of 26 postmortem findings of patients with COVID-19 in China. Kidney Int 98: 219–227, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[4] Su H, Yang M, Wan C, Yi LX, Tang F, Zhu HY, et al. .: Renal histopathological analysis of 26 postmortem findings of patients with COVID-19 in China. Kidney Int 98: 219–227, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[5] Varga Z, Flammer AJ, Steiger P, Haberecker M, Andermatt R, Zinkernagel AS, et al. .: Endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis in COVID-19. Lancet 395: 1417–1418, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[6] Varga Z, Flammer AJ, Steiger P, Haberecker M, Andermatt R, Zinkernagel AS, et al. .: Endothelial cell infection and endotheliitis in COVID-19. Lancet 395: 1417–1418, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[7] Peleg Y, Kudose S, D’Agati V, Siddall E, Ahmad S, Kisselev S, et al. .: Acute kidney injury due to collapsing glomerulopathy following COVID-19 infection. Kidney Int Rep 5: 940–945, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[8] Peleg Y, Kudose S, D’Agati V, Siddall E, Ahmad S, Kisselev S, et al. .: Acute kidney injury due to collapsing glomerulopathy following COVID-19 infection. Kidney Int Rep 5: 940–945, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[9] Larsen CP, Bourne TD, Wilson JD, Saqqa O, Sharshir MA: Collapsing glomerulopathy in a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Kidney Int Rep 5: 935–939, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

[10] Larsen CP, Bourne TD, Wilson JD, Saqqa O, Sharshir MA: Collapsing glomerulopathy in a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Kidney Int Rep 5: 935–939, 2020. - PMC - PubMed

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Histopathologic and Ultrastructural Findings in Postmortem Kidney Biopsy Material in 12 Patients with AKI and COVID-19

Affiliations

Histopathologic and Ultrastructural Findings in Postmortem Kidney Biopsy Material in 12 Patients with AKI and COVID-19

Authors

Affiliations

Figures

Comment in

Similar articles

Cited by

References

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous