Protective Effects of Ischemic Preconditioning-Mediated Homing of Endothelial Progenitor Cells on Renal Acute Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury in Male Rats

BACKGROUND:The objective of this study was to determine whether homing of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) induced by ischemic preconditioning (IPC) contributed to the protection of renal acute ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in male rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS:Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups, including sham-operated group, IRI-operated group, IPC-treated group and EPCs-treated group. Subsequently, serum...