Using genetics to understand the role of kidney function in COVID-19: a mendelian randomization study.
BMC Nephrol
; 22(1): 381, 2021 11 13.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1515439
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Kidney dysfunction occurs in severe COVID-19, and is a predictor of COVID-19 mortality. Whether kidney dysfunction causes severe COVID-19, and hence is a target of intervention, or whether it is a symptom, is unclear because conventional observational studies are open to confounding. To obtain unconfounded estimates, we used Mendelian randomization to examine the role of kidney function in severe COVID-19.METHODS:
We used genome-wide significant, uncorrelated genetic variants to predict kidney function, in terms of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), and then assessed whether people with genetically instrumented higher eGFR or lower UACR, an indication of better kidney function, had a lower risk of severe COVID-19 (8779 cases, 1,001,875 controls), using the largest available cohorts with extensive genotyping. For comprehensiveness, we also examined their role in COVID-19 hospitalization (24,274 cases, 2,061,529 controls) and all COVID-19 (1,12,612 cases, 2,474,079 controls).RESULTS:
Genetically instrumented higher eGFR was associated with lower risk of severe COVID-19 (odds ratio (OR) 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83, 0.98) but not related to COVID-19 hospitalization or infection. Genetically instrumented UACR was not related to COVID-19.CONCLUSIONS:
Kidney function appears to be one of the key targets for severe COVID-19 treatment. Use of available medications to improve kidney function, such as antihypertensives, might be beneficial for COVID-19 treatment, with relevance to drug repositioning.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Acuity
/
COVID-19
/
Glomerular Filtration Rate
/
Kidney
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
/
Variants
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Nephrol
Journal subject:
Nephrology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12882-021-02586-6
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS