Acute kidney injury (AKI) represents a major clinical problem with high mortality and limited treatments protocols. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of bone marrow -derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) in a rat model of ischemia/ reperfusion (I/R) AKI. I/R AKI was induced by clamping both renal pedicles for 40 minutes. Intravenous injection of PKH26 labelled BM-MSCs was done immediately after reflow for the treated group only. Animals were sacrificed 24 and 72 hrs after intervention. Kidney specimens were processed for hematoxylin and eosin, Periodic Acid Schiff Reaction and Proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Serum urea and creatinine were also measured. BM-MSCs treated group exhibited protection against renal injury manifested by reducing serum urea and creatinine levels, improving histological architecture and increasing the proliferative capacity of renal tubules. Collectively, these results suggest a potential renoprotective capacity of BM-MSCs which is of considerable therapeutic promise for the cell-based management of clinical AKI.