Renal Failure (Jan 2021)

Immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection – where do we stand and where are we heading?

  • Ahmed Daoud,
  • Ahmad Alqassieh,
  • Duaa Alkhader,
  • Maria Aurora Posadas Salas,
  • Vinaya Rao,
  • Tibor Fülöp,
  • Karim M. Soliman

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/0886022X.2021.1876730
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 43, no. 1
pp. 273 – 280

Abstract

Read online

The appropriate immunosuppressive regimen in kidney transplant recipients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) infection remains unclear. The impact of direct virus injury complicated by dysregulated hyperimmune response with overwhelming release of various cytokines in COVID-19 infected subjects contributes to the complexity of management. The largest concern of the practicing clinicians at current time is how to tailor maintenance immune-modulating therapy during active viral infection and the efficacy of the soon-to-be upcoming immunization for COVID-19. This targeted review aims to cover most of the current evidence on the effect of key maintenance immunosuppressive agents in COVID-19 infection and proposes a line of management to specific scenarios on this very rapidly evolving subject.

Keywords