Minimal Change Disease With Nephrotic Syndrome Associated With Coronavirus Disease 2019 After Apolipoprotein L1 Risk Variant Kidney Transplant: A Case Report

Abstract

Kidney injury is a well-known complication in people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19, presentation with nephrotic syndrome has not been well described. We report on a 49-year-old black female kidney transplant recipient who presented 25 years after transplant with clinical features of nephrotic syndrome following a diagnosis of COVID-19. Histologic examination showed acute tubular injury with unremarkable glomeruli on light microscopy and diffuse foot process effacement of podocytes on electron microscopy, consistent with minimal change–like podocyte injury. Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) genetic testing confirmed 2 high-risk APOL1 alleles in the kidney donor. We speculate that COVID-19–induced systemic or local cytokine release could serve as a second hit in the presence of APOL1 risk alleles and mediate a podocytopathy manifesting as nephrotic syndrome. The presented case with minimal change–like disease, occurring in the context of the donor high-risk APOL1 genotype, extends the spectrum of clinical manifestations in COVID-19–associated nephropathy.