Objective：The aim of this study was to assess whether the transplantation of endothelial progenitor cells（EPCs）transfected vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）adenovirus protected kidneys from ischemia/reperfusion injury（IRI）in male rats，in order to further improve the paracrine mechanism of EPCs on renal IRI. Methods：Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups，including Sham-operated group，IRI-operated group，IPC-treated group and EPCs-treated group. Recombinant adenovirus encoding VEGF165 gene（Ad-VEGF165）was used to infect EPCs，and the transfection efficiency was identified. At 24 h and 72 h after reperfusion，serum samples were respectively collected for the serum urea nitrogen，serum creatinine after the transplantation of EPCs on renal IRI. Besides，kidney tissues were harvested to observe renal morphology changes. Subsequently，immunohistochemical staining detected the expression levels of CD31；vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF），angiopoietin-1（Ang-1）and angiopoietin-2（Ang-2）expression levels in the kidneys were measured using western blot analysis at the indicated time points after reperfusion. Results：The results found that the serum urea nitrogen，serum creatinine and morphology were significantly improved，after EPCs transplantation with Ad-VEGF165. At 72 hours after reperfusion，expression levels of CD31，VEGF，Ang-1 and Ang-2 in the kidneys of EPCs-treated rats which was transfected by Ad-VEGF165 were markedly increased compared to rats subjected to IRI. Conclusion：The present work suggested that EPCs transplantation with Ad-VEGF165 could effectively treat kidney IRI in rats. In addition，the mechanism might be associated with VEGF paracrine function to further promote the expression of Ang-1，Ang-2 and other angiogenic factors after homing of EPCs，thus contributing to renal angiogenesis.