By Western blotting analysis in nuclear protein and immunohistochemical evaluation, much nuclear expression of Nrf2 was observed in groups PHC, ZnPP and PHC+ZnPP, which further illustrated that PHC pretreatment activated Nrf2 in renal tubular epithelial cell in rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI. The gene discussed is NFE2L2; the disease is acute kidney injury.