Table 1 Characteristics of the 29 studies included in the meta-analysis

Alzahrani et al. [27]

30

NR. rats/female

BMSC

250 μg Exos

DC, 100,000 g

Arterial

 < 1 h

3d and 4w

sCr, BUN, IL-1β, IL-10, VEGF

Burger et al. [28]

92

NOD-SCID mice/male

ECFC

15 μg Exos

DC, 100,000 g and 200,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score, TUNEL

Cantaluppi et al. [29]

54

Wistar rats/male

EPC

30 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

2d and 180 d

sCr, BUN, PCNA, BrdU, TUNEL, Cast, tubular necrosi

Cao et al. [30]

15

FVB/N mice/male

hP-MSC

80 μg EVs

DC, 130,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

0d、3d、5d、8d、15d

sCr, BUN, cast, tubular necrosis, Kim-1, mitochondrial fragmentation

Choi et al. [31]

96

FVB/N mice/male

KMSC

2 × 10⁷ MVs

Filtra-centrifugation

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1 and 3d

sCr, tubular injury score, PCNA, TUNEL

Collino et al. [32]

32

Wistar rats/male

ADMSC

7.5 × 10⁸ EVs

DC, 100,000 g

Subcapsular

 < 1 h

3 d

sCr, BUN, capillary-like structures, Kim-1, PCNA, iNOS, tubular injury score

Collino et al. [33]

14

Wistar rats/male

iPSC and ADMSC

1 × 10⁹ EVs

DC, 100,000 g

Subcapsular

 < 1 h

3 d

sCr, BUN, TUNEL, PCNA, tubular injury score, CD68 + macrophages, iNOS, mitochondrial fragmentation

Gatti et al. [34]

28

SD rats/male

BMSC

30 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

2d and 6 M

sCr, BUN, PCNA, BrdU, TUNEL, Cast, tubular necrosis

Gu et al. [35]

48

SD rats/male

WJMSC

100 μg EVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, mitochondrial fragmentation, TUNEL

Ju et al. [36]

24

SD rats/male

UCMSC

30 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

14 d

sCr, BUN, PCNA, TUNEL

Kilpinen et al. [37]

26

SD rats/male

UCMSC

16 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Arterial

 < 1 h

1 and 2 d

sCr, BUN

Li et al. [38]

30

SD rats/male

MSC

100 μg Exos

Precipitation reagents

Arterial

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, TUNEL, TNF-α mRNA

Lin et al. [39]

30

SD rats/male

ADMSC

100 μg Exos

SDS-PAGE Precipitation

Intravenous

3 h

3d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score, TNF-α, IL-1β

Liu et al. [40]

50

C57BL/6 mice/male

MSC

100 μg EVs

DC, 130,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d, 3d and 7d

sCr, BUN, Ki67, capillaries density

Ranghino et al. [41]

20

SCID mice/male

Gl-MSC

4 × 10⁸ Exos

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

2 d

sCr, BUN, cast, tubular necrosis, PCNA

Shen et al. [42]

18

Balb/c mice/NR

BMSC

200 μg Exos

DC, 100 000 to 110 000 g

Intravenous

10 min

1, 3 and 5 d

sCr, BUN

Vinas et al. [43]

18

FVB mice/male

ECFC

20 μg Exos

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, PTEN, tubular injury score

Vinas et al. [44]

20

FVB mice/male

ECFC

20 μg Exos

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score

Wang et al. [45]

144

SD rats/male

BMSC

100 μg Exos

Precipitation reagents

Arterial

 < 1 h

2d

sCr, BUN, TUNEL, IL-1β, TNF-α

Wang et al. [3]

120

BALB/c mice/male

BMSC

5 × 10¹⁰ EVs

DC, 120,000 g

Intravenous

1 h before IRI

8, 16, 24, and 48 h

sCr, BUN

Wu et al. [46]

40

SD rats/male

WJMSC

100 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d, 2d, 1w and 2w

sCr, BUN, vWF, IL-10, TUNEL, Ki67, α-SMA, TGF-β, CD68 + macrophages

Yuan et al. [47]

48

SD rats/male

iPSC

10¹² Exos

Precipitation reagents

Intravenous

 < 1 h

2d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score

Yu et al. [48]

20

C57BL/6 mice/male

ESC

100 μg EVs

DC, 100,000 g

left renal cortex

 < 1 h

1d, 3d, 5d, 1w and 2w

sCr, BUN, Ki67, cast, Kim-1

Zhang et al. [49]

24

SD rats/male

WJMSC

100 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

2w

sCr, BUN, Ki67, TUNEL, ROS, mRNA, fibrosis score, α-SMA

Zhang et al. [50]

24

rats/male

WJMSC

100 μg EVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score, TUNEL, ROS

Zhang et al. [51]

24

C57BL/6 mice/male

UCMSC

100 μg EVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

2w

sCr, BUN, Brdu, PCNA, α-SMA

Zou et al. [52]

54

SD rats/male

WJMSC

100 μg MVs

DC, 100,000 g

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d, 2d and 2w

sCr, BUN, TUNEL, Ki67, vWF, CD68 + macrophages, IL-10, TNF-α

Zou et al. [53]

60

SD rats/male

UCMSC

100 μg EVs

DC, 100,000

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN

Zou et al. [54]

72

NR rats/male

UCMSC

100 μg EVs

DC, 100,000

Intravenous

 < 1 h

1d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score, fibrosis score, TUNEL, Ki67, VEGF

Zhu et al. [55]

15

BALB/c mice/male

BMSC

5 × 10¹⁰ Exos

DC, 100,000

Intravenous

1 h before IRI

1d

sCr, BUN, tubular injury score,