Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury triggers an inflammatory response associated to infiltrating macrophages which determines the further outcome of disease. Brown Norway rats are known to show endogenous resistance to ischemia-induced renal damage. By contrast, Sprague Dawley rats exhibit a higher susceptibility to ischemic injury. In order to ascertain cytoprotective mechanisms, we focused on the implication of lipocalin-2 protein in main resistance mechanisms in renal ischemia/reperfusion injury by using adoptive macrophage administration, genetically modified ex vivo either to overexpress or to knockdown lipocalin-2. In vitro experiments with bone marrow-derived macrophages both from Brown Norway rats and from Sprague Dawley rats under hypoxic conditions showed endogenous differences regarding cytokine and lipocalin-2 expression profile in the two strains. Most interestingly, we observed that macrophages of the resistant strain express significantly more lipocalin-2. In vivo studies showed that tubular epithelial cell apoptosis and renal injury significantly increased and reparative markers decreased in Brown Norway rats after injection of lipocalin-2-knockdown macrophages, while the administration of lipocalin-2-overexpressing cells significantly decreased Sprague Dawley susceptibility. These data point to a crucial role of macrophage-derived lipocalin-2 in endogenous cytoprotective mechanisms. We conclude that expression of lipocalin-2 in tissue-infiltrating macrophages is pivotal for kidney-intrinsic cytoprotective pathways during ischemia reperfusion injury.