Kidney allograft rejection and coronavirus disease 2019 infection: A narrative review

Abstract

The world has experienced a global medical and socioeconomic burden following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. COVID-19 is a systemic disease and may affect different organs including the kidneys. Current literature contains reports on COVID-19-related conditions such as acute kidney injury, and complications experienced by chronic kidney disease, end stage kidney disease, and kidney transplant patients. Here, we discuss the incidence of kidney allograft rejection, immunosuppression management and rejection risk, donor-specific antibodies and previous rejection episodes, and rejection outcomes in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 by reviewing current studies.

Keywords

• coronavirus
• immunosuppression
• kidney transplantation
• rejection