Results The IRI group showed significant serologic evidence of renal injury compared to the sham group (P.05). The RIPerC, RIPostC, and RIperC+RIpostC groups displayed significantly lower levels of renal dysfunction than the IRI group (P.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were significantly lower in the IRI group than in the sham group (P = 0.003), but were significantly less depressed in the RIPerC, RIPostC, and RIperC+RIpostC groups (P.05). The IRI group displayed more severe renal tubular injury than the RIPerC,RIPostC, and RIPerC+RIPostC groups (P.05).Conclusion All three remote ischemic conditioning showed similar therapeutic potential for preventing renal IRI. The RIPerC+RIPostC protocol did not show an additive effect from the combination of preconditioning and postconditioning. The protective mechanism may be due to the stimulation of endogenous antioxidant activity by transient limb ischemia–reperfusion.