Severe Coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia patients showed signs of aggravated renal impairment

BACKGROUND: This objective of this study was to identify a sensitive indicator of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection. METHODS: Samples were collected from 136 patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pneumonia admitted to the Shanghai public health clinical center (116 mild, 20 severe). The concentrations of serum urea, Uric Acid (UA), Creatinine (CREA), Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and urine protein (Pro) have been tested in this study. RESULTS: Higher levels of urea (female 7.00 ± 3.31, male 8.87 ± 5.18) Pro (female7/7, male 12/13), hs‐CRP (female 2/7, male 5/13) ESR (female 94.43 ± 33.26, male 67.85 ± 22.77) were found in severe patients compared with the mild (urea: female 3.71 ± 1.00, male 4.42 ± 1.14; Pro: female 3/46, male 12/70; hs‐CRP: female 1/46, male 3/70; ESR: female 43.32 ± 33.24, male 21.64 ± 21.82). UA is lower in the severe group (female 146.90 ± 54.01, male 139.34 ± 66.95) than in mild group (female 251.99 ± 64.35, male 339.81 ± 71.32). CREA and PCT did not show a significant difference between mild and severe patients, but the difference among the five biological markers (urea, Pro, hs‐CRP, ESR, and UA) between mild and severe patients we tested was small (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Severe COVID‐19 patients had higher levels of urea and Pro, while their UA levels were lower, reflecting poor kidney function in severe patients. However, higher levels of hs‐CRP, ESR indicated that inflammatory responses were more active in severe patients.