Hepatic Vasculopathy and Regenerative Responses of the Liver in Fatal Cases of COVID-19

Barbara Kaltschmidt; Antonia D E Fitzek; Julia Schaedler; Christine Förster; Christian Kaltschmidt; Torsten Hansen; Fabian Steinfurth; Beatrice A Windmöller; Christian Pilger; Cihang Kong; Kashika Singh; Axel Nierhaus; Dominic Wichmann; Jan Sperhake; Klaus Püschel; Thomas Huser; Martin Krüger; Simon C Robson; Ludwig Wilkens; Jan Schulte Am Esch

doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2021.01.044

Hepatic Vasculopathy and Regenerative Responses of the Liver in Fatal Cases of COVID-19

Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021 Aug;19(8):1726-1729.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2021.01.044. Epub 2021 Jan 29.

Authors

Barbara Kaltschmidt¹, Antonia D E Fitzek², Julia Schaedler², Christine Förster³, Christian Kaltschmidt¹, Torsten Hansen⁴, Fabian Steinfurth⁵, Beatrice A Windmöller¹, Christian Pilger⁶, Cihang Kong⁶, Kashika Singh⁵, Axel Nierhaus⁷, Dominic Wichmann⁷, Jan Sperhake², Klaus Püschel², Thomas Huser⁶, Martin Krüger⁸, Simon C Robson⁹, Ludwig Wilkens³, Jan Schulte Am Esch¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
² Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
³ Institute of Pathology, KRH Hospital Nordstadt, affiliated with the University Hospital of the University of Bielefeld, Campus Bielefeld-Bethel, Hannover, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Pathology, University Hospital OWL of the University of Bielefeld, Campus Klinikum Lippe, Detmold, Germany.
⁵ Department of General and Visceral Surgery, University Hospital OWL of the University of Bielefeld, Campus Bielefeld-Bethel, Bielefeld, Germany.
⁶ Biomolecular Photonics, Faculty of Physics, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
⁷ Department of Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
⁸ Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University Hospital OWL of the University of Bielefeld, Campus Bielefeld-Bethel, Bielefeld, Germany.
⁹ Center for Inflammation Research, Department of Anesthesia and Division of Gastroenterology, Departement of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
¹⁰ Department of General and Visceral Surgery, University Hospital OWL of the University of Bielefeld, Campus Bielefeld-Bethel, Bielefeld, Germany. Electronic address: jan.schulteamesch@evkb.de.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects the nasopharynx and lungs and causes coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). It may impact the heart, brain, kidney, and liver.¹ Although functional impairment of the liver has been correlated with worse clinical outcomes, little is known about the pathophysiology of hepatic injury and repair in COVID-19.²^,³ Histologic evaluation has been limited to small numbers of COVID-19 cases with no control subjects²^,⁴ and demonstrated largely heterogeneous patterns of pathology.²^,³.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acute Kidney Injury*
COVID-19*
Humans
Kidney
Liver
SARS-CoV-2