"Abstract
... This pharmacovigilance study analyzed... reports from VigiBase collected between 1967 and 2022. We evaluated the global reporting of acute kidney injury (AKI), glomerulonephritis (GN), and tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) and assessed disproportionate signals between vaccines and renal AEs [adverse events]... The number and proportion of reports on AKI, GN, and TIN gradually increased, with a substantial increase after 2020. Disproportionate reporting of AKI was significant for COVID-19 mRNA vaccines... Fourteen vaccines were significantly disproportionate for higher GN reporting, and the highest disproportionality for GN reporting was observed for COVID-19 mRNA ... and hepatitis B vaccines... Disproportionate TIN reporting was significant for COVID-19 mRNA ... and human papillomavirus ... vaccines. Significant disproportionality in the reporting of AKI, GN, and TIN was observed in patients exposed to multiple vaccines, including COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, alongside increasing global reports of vaccine-associated renal AEs...
Results
... Figure 1 shows temporal changes in the reported counts and proportions of vaccine-associated renal AEs relative to all drug-associated renal AEs. The number of reported vaccine-associated AEs for AKI, GN, and TIN gradually increased over time. The proportions of vaccine-associated AKI, GN, and TIN cases among all drug-related AEs also increased. Notably, there was a remarkable increase in the number and proportion of vaccine-associated AEs after 2020. The Americas had the highest reporting of AKI, GN, and TIN, followed by European regions...
Discussion
... COVID-19 mRNA vaccines were associated with the highest reporting of renal AEs, compared to other vaccines, as evidenced by significant disproportionality for AKI, GN, and TIN reporting, and the strongest signal. Additionally, the highest counts of overlapping reporting between AKI, GN, and TIN were observed in recipients of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines compared to other vaccines...
We showed that AKI was frequently reported in conjunction with serious neurological and cardiovascular outcomes following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. These findings suggest that AKI frequently occurs in the context of a multi-system disease. Previous reports have also indicated the increased risk of organ injuries, including myocarditis, arrhythmia, encephalomyelitis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome, from vaccination. Our study revealed significant disproportionality of TIN reporting with COVID-19 mRNA and HPV vaccines, especially among individuals aged 12–17 years. These findings imply that COVID-19 mRNA and HPV vaccines could have immunostimulatory properties that lead to a hypersensitivity reaction in the renal interstitium, and that adolescents are more susceptible."
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