OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of autologous bone marrow stem cell (BMSC) transplantation via the renal artery on renal function recovery following renal ischemic-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rabbits.

METHODSBMSCs were collected and isolated from rabbits. Twenty-eight rabbits were subjected to renal pedicle clamping for 105 min and randomized subsequently into transplantation group and control group. BMSCs or saline were injected into the kidney via the renal artery, respectively. Before and 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after I/R injury the venous blood was collected to measure the serum levels of SCr and BUN, and the renal tissue was sampled for pathological observation.

RESULTSOne and 3 days after I/R injury, serum Cr and BUN levels increased significantly to the highest level in both groups. On the 7th day serum Cr and BUN levels in the transplantation group were lower than those in control group and remained so till the end of the experiment. On the 28th day, the levels of serum Cr (90.1+/-11.1 micromol/L) and BUN (8.0+/-1.5 mmol/L) in the transplantation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (135.6+/-32.5 micromol/L and 10.9+/-2.5 mmol/L, respectively, P<0.05). Pathological observation of the renal tissue revealed renal tubular epithelial cell degeneration, necrosis and abscission.

CONCLUSIONBMSC transplantation can accelerate renal function repair after acute tubular necrosis resulting from I/R injury, and decrease serum Cr and BUN levels in early stage following the injury.