Ikanović A, Varshney K. Understanding rhabdomyolysis induced acute kidney injury in patients with COVID-19. World J Virol 2024; 13(4): 101065 [DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v13.i4.101065]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Karan Varshney, Researcher, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia. karan.varshney@monash.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Virology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Virol. Dec 25, 2024; 13(4): 101065 Published online Dec 25, 2024. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v13.i4.101065
Understanding rhabdomyolysis induced acute kidney injury in patients with COVID-19
Alexander Ikanović, Karan Varshney
Alexander Ikanović, Karan Varshney, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia
Karan Varshney, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
Author contributions: Ikanović A and Varshney K were responsible for conceptualization, analysis, writing original draft preparation, writing review and editing; Varshney K was responsible for supervision; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Karan Varshney, Researcher, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3216, Australia. karan.varshney@monash.edu
Received: September 3, 2024 Revised: September 25, 2024 Accepted: October 8, 2024 Published online: December 25, 2024 Processing time: 44 Days and 20.3 Hours
Abstract
This work comments on an article published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Virology. Rhabdomyolysis is a complex condition with symptoms such as myalgia, changes to urination, and weakness. With the potential for substantial kidney impairment, it has also been shown to be a severe complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To date, various theoretical explanations exist for the development of rhabdomyolysis induced acute kidney injury (RIAKI) in COVID-19 infection, including the accumulation of released striated muscle myoglobin in the urine (myoglobinuria). In their article, they (2024) demonstrate in a retrospective study that RIAKI in COVID-19 patients tended to have elevated levels of C-reactive protein, ferritin, and procalcitonin. These patients also had poorer overall prognoses when compared to COVID-19 patients who have acute kidney injury (AKI) due to other causes. It is clear from these findings that clinicians must closely monitor and assess for the presence of rhabdomyolysis in COVID-19 patients who have developed AKIs. Moreover, additional research is required to further understand the mechanisms behind the development of RIAKI in COVID-19 patients in order to better inform treatment guidelines and protocols.
Core Tip: The article published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Virology (2024) has shown that patients with rhabdomyolysis induced acute kidney injury (RIAKI) as a complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection tend to show elevated levels of specific biomarkers. Additionally, patients with RIAKI in COVID-19 infection have worse outcomes compared to patients who have acute kidney injury due to other causes in COVID-19 infection. To improve overall outcomes, there is a need to better understand the mechanism for RIAKI development in COVID-19, and to create evidence-based treatment protocols for this condition. To determine which approaches are most effective, more research on the outcomes for patients with differing treatment regimens is required.
