SUMMARY
BACKGROUND: Acute renal failure (ARF) is a serious disease characterised by a rapid loss of renal functions due to nephrotoxic drug or ischemic insult. The clinical treatment approach such as dialysis techniques and continuous renal enhancement have grown rapidly during past decades. However, there is yet no significant effect in improving renal function. Hypoxia-preconditioned mesenchymal stem cells (HP-MSCs) have positive effects on the in vitro survival and stemness, in addition to angiogenic potential.AIM: In this study, we aimed to analyse the effect of HP-MSCs administration in improving renal function, characterised by blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine level.METHODS: A group of 15 male Wistar rats weighing 250 g to 300 g were used in this study (n = 5 for each group). Rats were randomly distributed into 3 groups: Vehicle control (Veh) as a control group, HP-MSCs and normoxia MSCs (N-MSCs) as the treatment group. Renal function was evaluated based on the BUN and creatinine levels using the colourimetric method on day 5 and 13. The histological analysis using HE staining was performed on day 13.RESULTS: The result showed there is a significant decrease in BUN and creatinine level (p < 0.05). The histological analysis of renal tissue also showed a significant decrease between Veh and treatment group (p < 0.05).CONCLUSION: Based on this study, we conclude that HP-MSCs have a superior beneficial effect than N-MSCs in improving renal function in an animal model of gentamicin-induced ARF.