Creatinine and Blood Urea Nitrogen levels in relation to Mortality rate of COVID-19 patients
Gibraltar Kasyiful Haqi1,a, Berty Denny Hermawati2, Sigit Setyawan1

1) Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia
2) Department of Internal Medicine, UNS Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia

a) corresponding author: gibraltarkh[at]student.uns.ac.id

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious, life-threatening infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 virus enters the human body by binding to the ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2) receptor. ACE2 is expressed in various human organs such as the heart, kidney, brain, and lungs. This is thought to be the cause of organ failure in many cases of COVID-19, especially in the kidney. The most frequent examination of kidney function is the examination of creatinine levels and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Recent research suggests that creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels are more likely to rise during COVID-19 infection. Only a few studies, in several countries, have shown that there is a relationship between creatinine and BUN levels with an increased mortality rate in patients with COVID-19. Due to the lack of the research, this study aims to find out if there is a significant correlation between creatinine and BUN levels with the COVID-19 mortality rate. This study was done using an analytic observational method through a cross-sectional approach to 116 confirmed COVID-19 patients in Sebelas Maret University Hospital, Surakarta, Indonesia, as samples. From our analysis using the chi-square test, we have obtained a creatinine-mortality rate result of 0.020 < 0.050, (p-value = 7.844 > 5.991, contingency coefficient C = 0.252, Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.532), and a BUN-mortality rate result of 0.000 < 0.050, (p-value = 7.844 > 5.991, contingency coefficient C = 0.381, Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.183). Finally, it can be concluded that there is a significant relationship between creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels with the mortality rates of COVID-19 patients at Sebelas Maret University Hospital.

Keywords: COVID-19, BUN, Creatinine, Kidney

Topic: Medical : basic science, clinical, translational research, medical education, and miscellaneous