Incidence, clinical characteristics, and risk factors of acute kidney injury in patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia.

Authors

Changquan Fang, Junhong Lin, Hui Huang, Liuqing Peng, Jialiu Zou, Cheng Sun, Limin Xu

Published in

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology. Volume 16. Pages 1936448. Epub Sep 18, 2026.

Abstract

Chlamydia psittaci infection can cause acute kidney injury (AKI). However, systematic studies on this issue remain limited. This study aimed to examine the incidence, clinical characteristics, and risk factors of AKI in patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia.
This study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia who were admitted to 10 hospitals in Guangdong Province, China, between January 2019 and June 2026. Renal function parameters on admission and factors associated with AKI were also analyzed.
A total of 241 patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia were included, of whom 51 developed AKI. The incidence of AKI was 21.2% and was significantly higher in patients with severe pneumonia than in those with non-severe pneumonia (p < 0.001). Compared with patients without AKI, the AKI group had higher proportions of males and individuals with a history of smoking, hypertension, or coronary artery disease. This group also had higher proportions of patients with dyspnea, myalgia, and altered mental status. In addition, patients with AKI had higher pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores, longer hospital stays, and higher mortality. Laboratory tests showed that C-reactive protein (CRP), CRP-to-lymphocyte ratio, procalcitonin, creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate transaminase, D-dimer, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T levels were significantly higher in the AKI group than in the non-AKI group. Logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension, a higher PSI score, and elevated CK were independent risk factors for AKI in patients with Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia. Among patients with AKI, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes stage 1 was the most common (74.5%), and stage 2 and stage 3 accounted for 21.6% and 3.9%, respectively. Of the 51 patients with AKI, seven died (13.7%). The remaining 44 patients (86.3%) recovered renal function after prompt anti-infective and supportive treatment.
AKI is a serious complication of Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia and is associated with greater disease severity and a significantly increased risk of death. In clinical practice, particular attention should be paid to high-risk patients with hypertension, a high PSI score, and elevated CK. Early renal function monitoring and intervention should be enhanced to improve patient outcomes.

PMID:
42827458
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 03 Oct 2026.

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