• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: SARS-CoV-2 infection: a possible trigger for the recurrence of IgA nephropathy after kidney transplantation?
  • Contributor: Jankowski, Eric; Schlosser, Mandy; Wiech, Thorsten; Wolf, Gunter; Busch, Martin
  • imprint: Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023
  • Published in: Journal of Nephrology
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1007/s40620-023-01684-y
  • ISSN: 1724-6059
  • Keywords: Nephrology
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Immunoglobulin A nephropathy, the most common primary glomerulonephritis worldwide, is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney failure. Several cases of immunoglobulin A nephropathy relapse in native kidneys have been described after COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we report the case of a 52-year-old kidney transplant recipient who had a stable transplant function for more than 14 years, with a glomerular filtration rate above 30 ml/min/1.73 m<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>. The patient had been vaccinated against COVID-19 four times with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, most recently in March 2022. Eight weeks after a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in June 2022, his glomerular filtration rate had decreased by more than 50%, and his proteinuria increased to 17.5 g per day. A renal biopsy indicated highly active immunoglobulin A nephritis. Despite steroid therapy, the function of the transplanted kidney deteriorated, and long-term dialysis became necessary because of recurrence of his underlying renal disease. This case report provides what is, to our knowledge, the first description of recurrent immunoglobulin A nephropathy in a kidney transplant recipient after SARS-CoV-2 infection leading to severe transplant failure and finally graft loss.</jats:p>