Society of Diabetic Nephropathy Prevention Journal of Nephropharmacology 2345-4202 10 2 2021 05 01 Understanding kidney injury in COVID-19; a pressing priority e19 e19 10.34172/npj.2021.19 EN Elham Ahmadipour Bhaskar VKS Lakkakula https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2977-6454 Golnaz Vahdani https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0698-2968 Ramin Tolouian https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2242-9310 Hedieh Ragati Haghi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8299-9174 Doris Delgado https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0230-553X Luiz Augusto Fernandes da Silva Masoud Hafizi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8003-9041 Journal Article 10.34172/npj.2021.19 2020 10 16 2020 11 10 The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a newly defined infectious and highly contagious acute disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 is mainly characterized by an acute respiratory disease however it can also affect multiple other organ systems such as the kidney, gastrointestinal tract, heart, vascular system, and the central nervous system. Kidney involvement is frequent in patients with COVID-19 and this review aims to explore the available data on kidney and COVID-19. In conclusion, COVID-19 infection can affect renal function and may cause acute kidney injury (AKI), due to several mechanisms that need to be fully elucidated. As only supportive management strategies are available for treating AKI in COVID-19, it is necessary to identify and preserve renal function during SARS-CoV-2 infection.