Objective:To investigate the effect of astragalus on the serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor（HGF）

renal function and the damage of renal morphology in ischemic acute renal failure（IARF）.To study the protective mechanism of astragalus in IARF.Methods: The rats were pretreated with astragalus or vehicle for 3 days.IARF was induced by left renal artery clipping for 60 min

after the right kidney was removed.Biochemical parameters for serum HGF

blood urea nitrogen（BUN）

creatinine（Cr） were measured and histological analyses of the kidneys were performed by tubular grading.Results: There have no significant difference between the serum HGF levels of I/R controls and the levels observed in sham-operated group（P>0.05）.Serum HGF levels in astragalus treated group was significantly increased than those of I/R control group（P<0.01）.After 4 h of I/R

serum levels of BUN and Cr were increased in I/R control rats compare with Sham-operated rats（P<0.01）.Astragalus treatment reduced the levels elevation（P<0.05）.Simultaneously

I/R-induced severe damage in renal morphology were significantly ameliorated by astragalus treatment（P<0.01）.Conclusions: Astragalus pretreatment can alleviate the damage of renal function in IARF.It is may be one of the mechanisms of astragalus for protecting renal tissue in IARF that astragalus can induce the expression of HGF.