['Immunosuppressive agents have been investigated in renal ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and have frequently demonstrated a beneficial effect. Most studies focused on treatment of the recipient at the time of transplantation. Pre-treatment of these organs before injury (pharmacological pre-conditioning) may particularly protect these organs. This study aimed to investigate the possible protective effects of donor pre-treatment with cyclosporine (CsA) or the mTOR inhibitor everolimus or their combination against IRI during renal transplantation in a rat model.', 'Donors received vehicle, CsA (5\xa0mg/kg), everolimus (0.5\xa0mg/kg) or CsA\u2009+\u2009everolimus. Two oral doses were administered to the donors at 24\xa0h and again at 6\xa0h prior to donor kidney removal. Syngeneic rat kidneys were preserved in UW solution for 24\xa0h prior to transplantation. After 24\xa0h of reperfusion, blood and tissue samples were collected from recipients for further analysis.', 'Renal functions as determined by creatinine and necrosis scores were not different between the experimental groups. Cleaved caspase-3, heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), tumor-necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and nitrotyrosine protein levels were not statistically different between the four treatment groups at 24\xa0h post-transplantation. Blood NMR analysis on metabolic markers for IRI reveals no beneficial effects of donor pre-treatment on the 24-h outcome in transplantation.'] Does donor pre-treatment with everolimus or cyclosporine reduce ischaemia-reperfusion injury in a rat kidney transplant model?