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Renal ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) is a major cause of acute renal failure with increased morbidity, mortality, and prolonged hospitalizations. Clematichinenoside (AR), a triterpenoid saponin isolated from the roots of Clematis chinensis, was reported to possess a protective effect against I/R injury. However, the effect of AR on renal I/R injury has not been evaluated. This study aims to examine the effect of AR on an in vitro I/R model in human proximal tubular epithelial cells HK‐2. HK‐2 cells were subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) stimulation to mimic I/R in vitro. The results showed that AR improved cell viability of H/R‐stimulated HK‐2 cells. AR pretreatment resulted in decreased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as increased in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in H/R‐stimulated HK‐2 cells. In addition, AR also presented an anti‐inflammatory activity, as evidenced by decreased secretion of pro‐inflammatory cytokines including IL‐6, IL‐1β, and TNF‐α. Moreover, apoptotic rate was markedly decreased in HK‐2 cells pretreated with AR. The bax expression was decreased, while bcl‐2 expression was increased by AR pretreatment. Furthermore, AR enhanced the H/R‐stimulated activation of the Nrf2/HO‐1 signalling pathway in HK‐2 cells. In conclusion, these findings indicated that AR protected HK‐2 cells from H/R‐induced cell injury via regulating the Nrf2/HO‐1 signalling pathway.

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