Liver and Kidney Injuries in COVID 19 and Their Effects on Drug Therapy; a Letter to Editor
Dear Editor, COVID 19 is a newly emerging human infectious disease of SARS CoV 2 origin that has affected many countries around the world. COVID 19 is now rapidly spreading worldwide, and this letter is written as the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global emergency on January 31 st amid concerns about a growing outbreak of SARS CoV 2. Most of the published articles on COVID 19 have highlighted lungs as the main organ involved in the disease, while few articles have reported SARS CoV 2 involvement in other organs, including liver and kidneys, which can impair the metabolism and excretion of the medications taken to treat the disease. According to Zhang et al. the incidence of hepatic abnormalities significantly increases after infection with COVID 19 and during the course of the disease, which may indicate the effect of SARS CoV 2 on the liver or side effects of the medications used by patients (1) Also, Xu et al. have reported steatosis and liver injury in the liver biopsy of a patient with COVID 19 (2) In addition to liver injuries, some articles have also reported an increased incidence of acute renal injury following COVID 19, which could be due to the presence of SARS CoV 2, the inflammation induced by the disease, or a synergistic effect of both on kidneys (3, 4) Additionally, Cheng et al. have reported that patients with acute renal injury have a higher mortality rate compared to other patients (3)
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